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I -^-
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Sfnbgment of i^olomon
BT JACOB JORDAENB^ A GREAT MASTER OF THE
FLEMISH SCHOOL^ DIED 1678.
+
"And the king 9aid, Divide the living child in
iwo." — I, Kings, 3, 26.
HERE again is shown one of the celebrated
biblical conceptions of the masters of the
great days of painting, pictures to be
studied, not for the costuming, which is incorrect,
but for the spirit which is essentially true to hu-
manity, and for the beauty and strength of the
artist's thought.
Solomon being offered by God the grace of any
one gift he might desire, asked for wisdom, that
he might judge justly among his subjects. The
first test of this wondrous gift was shown in the in-
cident of the two women both of whom claimed the
same child. Solomon bade one of his soldiers cut
the child in half, and give a piece to each woman,
foreseeing well that the real mother would yield
everything rather than have her son thus slain. The
result justified his wisdom, and when the true mother
proved her devotion by offering to surrender the
boy, Solomon bade her keep the little one herself.
"And all Israel heard of the judgpnent which the
king had judged; and they feared the king; for
they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to
do judgment."
IV
I^olumt
jFourtti
Bible. €rfi\isW, A\a^Kd%-;3c *4 , Kt\0
The BIBLE
AND ITS STORr
*'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the
last"— AerelaMoiM, n, 13.
•
"The Bible Is a book of faith, and a book of doctrine, and a book of mor-
als, and a book of religion, of special revelation from God."— Dani«l Webster.
"It is a belief in the Bible, the fruits of deep mediUtion, which has
senred me as the guide of my moral and literary- life."— Ooef^.
"The word unto the prophet spoken
Was writ on tablets yet unbroken."— ^merton.
"The Gospel possesses a secret virtue, a mysterious efficacy, a warmth
which penetrates and soothes the heart*'— TTafMleon.
"The grass withereth, the fiower fadeth; but the word of our Ood shall
stand forever."— /«ala%, Jl/O, 8.
Edited by
Prof. Charles F. Home, M.S., Ph.D.
{Qf th& CoOege of th& OUy of New Tork)
With the Assistance of
Rev. Prof, Julius A, Bewer, Ph,D.
Wf Union TheoloQical SenUnary)
Published by
FRANCIS R.NIGLUTSCH
New York
h
V. ^
COPTBIOHT, 1908,
BT
F. R. NIOLUTSCH
COPTBIGHT, 1909,
BT
F. R. NIGLUTSCH
COPTBIOHT. 1910,
BT
F. R. NIGLUTSCH
11
■*ic******^*****t:***:
*M^¥¥S?¥5?TT?¥T???¥5¥f*T+¥*?T¥^?¥¥^^?T5^??T¥¥¥¥?TT?T¥¥?^??*?»*
Contents— l^olume iv
II SAMUEL 577
I KINGS S95
II KINGS 652
I CHKONICLES 706
n CHRONICLES 759
Hit of 3Uu£(trations;
Judgment of Solomon,
Frontis]>iece
Jerusalem (Map) . .
. 378
David
. 580
The Youth of David .
. 582
Samuel Seeks a King
Samuel Anoints David
. 584
. 586
Saul's Despair
. 588
David Soothes Saul .
. 590
David Visits the Army
. 592
The Lion Slain . .
. 594
Samuel's Death . .
. 594
Solomon's Temple
. 595
Saul Gives David his Armor 596
"In the Nameof theLord" . 598
David Slays Goliath . . . 600
The Terror of the Philistines 602
The Rejoicing over Goliath's
Death 604
Saul Receives David . . . 606
Jonathan Welcomes David . 608
The End of the War . . .610
Saul Suspects David . . 612
The Evil Spirit Tempts Saul 614
Michal Presented to David . 616
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS — ^VOLUME IV.
TO FACS PACE
Jonathan Warns David . .618
Saul Again Attacks David . 620
David's Flight .... 622
Michal's Stratagem . . . 624
Saul Prophesies .... 626
The Hour of Need ... 628
Saul Threatens Jonathan . 630
The Signal 632
Goliath's Sword .... 634
David Among the Philistines 636
David's Parents in Exile . . 638
Saul Destroys the Priests . 640
The Friends' Last Parting . 642
Saul in David's Cave . . 644
The Proof of Mercv ... 646
Nabal . . . .' . . .648
Ahab's Death .... 650
Abigail Entreats Mercy . . 650
Abigail Summoned to David 652
The Chariot of Fire ... 652
David Among the Hosts of
Saul 654
"The Lord's Anointed'' . . 656
Israel Turns to David . . 658
David Serves the Philistines 660
The Witch of Endor . . 662
Samuel's Curse .... 664
The Egyptian Questioned . 666
The Rescue 668
Saul Slain 670
The Lamentation of Israel . 672
The Slayer Slain .... 674
David's Lament .... 676
The Crowning of David . . 678
The Twelve Against Twelve 680
Abner Summoned Back to
Jerusalem 682
Ish-bosheth's End ... 684
The Three Mighty Men . . 686
David Storms Jerusalem . 688
Da\id's Great Jubilee . . 690
Uzzah Smitten .... 692
The ^\rk Brought to Jerusa-
lem 694
TO PACE rACB
Michal Scorns David
David Plans a Temple
Nathan Forbids David's
Building ....
Moab Measured for Death
David's Ambassadors Insult-
ed .... .
Sennacherib .
The Empire of Israel
David Defeats the Philistines
The Ammonites Harrowed
David's Temptation .
The Plot Against Uriah .
Nathan's Parable
David's Repentance
The Punishment .
Tamar
Absalom and Tamar
Amnon Slain . .
Absalom Pardoned
David's Flight .
Shimei Curses David
Ahithophel Rejected
David Welcomed in Exile
Absalom Slain
Absalom's Tomb
David Learns of His Son's
Death . . .
David Mourns
David Restored .
Saeba's Rebellion
The Famine .
Rizpah.
The Pestilence
The Angel Stayed .
The Planning of God's House
The Last Rebellion .
God's Glory in the Temple
Benaiah
David's Last Song .
David's Last Counsel to Solo-
mon ....
The Tomb of David
Tailpiece .
696
698
700
702
704
704
706
706
708
710
712
714
716
718
720
722
724
726
728
730
732
734
736
738
740
742
744
746
748
750
752
754
756
758
759
760
762
764
766
768
THE SECOND BOOK OP
Samuel,
OTHERWISE CALLED, THE SECOND BOOK OF THE
chapter 18
1 Daaid vitvrbiQ Iht armitt In their march (rfwi* than diarge of Abialim. fl The Itraelitn are lore emiOeit in Ih4
vood of Bphraitn. 9 Abmlom, hanging in an oak. I'a tlain bv Joab and cad into a pit. IS Abtalom't place.
19 AAtmaiu and CuAi bring lidiTifft h David. 33 David moumelh Jar Abtaiom.
^ ND David numbered the people that were with
him, and set captains of thousands and captains
of hundreds over them.
2 And David sent forth a third part of the
people under the hand of Joab, and a third
Sart under the hand of Abishai the son of
eruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under
the hand of Ittai the Gittite. Ana the king
said unto the people, I will surely go forth
"'' ~ with you myself also.
3 But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we
6ee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they
care for us: but now tkou art worth ten thousand of us: therefore now
ii is better that thou succour us out of the city.
4 And the king said unto them, Wiat seemeth you best I will do.
And the king stood by the gate-side, and all the people came out by
hundreds and by thousands.
5 And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying.
Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.
And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge
<roncermng Absalom.
578 SECOND SAMUEL XVIII — DEATH OF ABSALOM
6 ^ So the people went out into the field against Israel : and the
battle was in the wood of Ephraim;
7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David,
and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
8 For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country:
and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
9 ^ And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode
upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak,
and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between
the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went 9l^b.j.
10 And a certain man saw it^ and told Joab, and said. Behold, I
saw Absalom hanged in an oak.
11 And Joab said imto the man that told him. And, behold, thou
sawest him^ and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground ?
and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.
12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thou-
sand .shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine
hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee
and Abishai and Ittai, saying. Beware that none touch the young man
Absalom.
13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own
Uf e : for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest
have set thyself against me.
14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took
three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom,
while he was yet aUve in the midst of the oak.
15 And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about
and smote Absalom, and slew him.
16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pur-
suing after Israel : for Joab held back the people.
17 And they took Absalom, and cast nim into a great pit in the
wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel
fled every one to his tent.
18 ^ Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for
himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no
son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after
his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place.
19 ^ Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear
the king tidings, how that the Lord hath avenged him of his enemies.
20 And Joab said unto him. Thou shalt not bear tidings this day,
but thou shalt bear tidings another day : but this day thou shalt bear
no tidings, because the king's son is dead.
21 Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen.
And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But
- »
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Jenuukm
:
'*And David and all Israd went to JeruMlemf wkiek is
Jdnu: where the JebusUes were^ the inhabitants ifike land**
— I, Chron.^ 11^ 4-
JERUSALEM did not whollj and properly become a
Hebrew city until David's time. It had indeed been
captured in Joshua's day and used apparently as a
capital by Saul. Yet the original inhabitants, the Jebus-
ites, retained partial possession of it Then came David's
first great military exploit as king. He stormed Jerusalem,
conquered even its central portion, the citadel of the
Jebusites, and made the dty his capital. Since then it
has always remained the chief dty of Palestine.
King David ** dwelt in the castle; therefore they called
it the dty of David." He also "built the dty round
about." His general Joab ''repaired the rest of the dty."
Under David, Jerusalem became also the chief religious
centre of the Israelites, the shrine of the celebrated ark.
Then Solomon built "the house of the Lord at Jerusalem
in mount Moriah." The site of this was a "threshing
floor," whereon David had erected an altar to Grod in the
time of a great plague, hence apparently Mount Moriah
had not before been within the walls of the dty. Solomon
extended these walls about his temple; then he built palaces
for himself and his queens. David had also built himself
a palace, so that the city now took on a look of splendor
very different from its earlier ruggedness as a mountain
fortress.
iv-3
^^^
SECOND SAMUEL XVIII — ^MOURNING OF DAVID 579
howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said.
Wherefore wilt thou run, mv son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready ?
23 But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said unto him.
Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.
24 And David sat between the two gates : and the watchman went
up' to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and
looked, and behold a man running alone.
25 And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king
said. If he he alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace»
and drew near.
26 And the watchman saw another man running: and the watch-
man called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man running
alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.
27 And the watchman said. Me thinketh the running of the fore-
most is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king
said. He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings.
28 And Ahimaaz called, and said unto tne king. All is well. And
he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said.
Blessed he the Lord thy God, which hath delivered up tne men that
lifted up their hand against my lord the king.
29 And the king said. Is the young man Absalom safe.^^ And
Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy
servant I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.
30 And the king said unto him. Turn aside, and stand here. And
he turned aside, and stood still.
31 And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said. Tidings, my lord
the king: for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that
rose up against thee.
32 Ana the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe ?
And Cushi answered. The enemies of my lord the king, and all that
rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is,
S3 Tf And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber
over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son
Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee,
O Absalom, my son, my son!
Cfiapter 19
1 Joob eauteth (he king to cease his motaming. 0 The Israelites are earnest to bring the king hack. 11 David
rnndeth to the priests to incite them of Judah. 18 Shimei is pardoned. 24 Mephibotheth excused. 32 BarsiUai
dismissed. Chtmham his son is taken into the king's family. 41 The Israelites expostulate trith Judah for bringing
home the king without them,
ND it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth
for Absalom.
^_^ 2 And the victorv that day was turned into mourning unto
au ine people: for the people heard say that day how the king was
grieved for his son.
580 SECOND SAMUEL XIX — DAVID's RESTORATION
3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as
people being ashamedsteal awinr when they flee in battle.
4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud
voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said. Thou hast
shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have
-saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the
lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;
6 In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends.
For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes
nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Aosalom had Uved, and
all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.
7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy
servants: for I swear by the Lord if thou go not forth, there will not
tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than
all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now.
8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto
all the people, saying. Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And
all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to
his tent.
9 1 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of
Israel, saying. The king saved us out of the nand of our enemies,
and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he
is fled out of the land for Absalom.
10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle.
Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back ?
11 ^ And king iJavid sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests,
saying. Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying. Why are ve the last
to bnng the king back to his house ? seeing tne speech of all Israel
is come to the king, even to his house.
12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore
then are ye the last to bring back the king ?
13 And say ye to x\masa. Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh ?
God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host
before me continually in the room of Joab.
14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the
heart of one man ; so that they sent this word unto the king. Return
thou, and all thy servants.
15 So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came
to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.
16 if And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which wa^ of
Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king
David.
17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and
Ziha the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his
; i
Babtb
BT GUBTAVE MOBEAU, A FRENCH ABTaSTT* DOED 1898.
4*
**Aitd the fame of David went out into aU lands; and the
.Lord brought the fear of him upon all ruUions** — I, Chron.,
U. 17.
DAVID ia celebrated in history as the great founder
of the Israelite monarchy, the wise and able
chieftain who welded this loose federation of
tribes into a single nation and used its forces successfully
in the establishment of an empire. Next to Moses he
is the most prominent figure in the Old Testament history
of the Hebrew race.
To most of us, however, David is less familiar as a king
than as a man, a man whose whole life has been laid bare
before us with a frankness such as few lives could stand.
No other portion of the Old Testament extends to such
fullness of detail as do the chapters dealing with David's
life. They are elaborately minute. Their hero is per-
haps the most admirable and at the same time the most
lovable figure in all history. His life was indeed stained
by one great crime, which plunged his later days into sor-
row, heroically endured. But that crime was sincerely
repented and patiently atoned; and without it how should
we have realized the full humanity of the man, his mingled
strength and weakness, and, above all, his loyal, confident
faith in his Maker's goodness and forgiveness. David
has often been quoted as typifying man's true attitude
toward God.
Yet a third fame belongs to David as a poet and
musician, composer of many of those beautiful
Psalms which form one of the great
treasures of the Bible.
iv-4
SECOND SAMUEL XIX — DAVID's MERCY 581
twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.
18 And there went over a ferry Iboat to carry over the king's house-
hold, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera
fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;
19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto
note, neither do thou remember that which thv servant did perversely
the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king
should take it to his heart.
20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, be-
hold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go
down to meet my lord the king.
21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said. Shall not
Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's
anointed ?
22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah,
that ye should this day be adversaries unto me ? shall there any man
be put to death this day in Israel ? for do not I know that I am this
day king over Israel ?
23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And
Ihe king sware unto him.
24 ^ And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the
king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor
washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he
came again in peace.
25 And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet
the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou
with me, Mephibosheth ?
26 And he answered. My lord, O king, my servant deceived me:
for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon,
and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.
27 And he hatn slandered thy servant unto my lord the king;
but my lord the king t^ as an angel of God : do therefore what is good
in thine eyes.
28 For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord
the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at
thine own table. What right therefore have 1 yet to cry any more
unto the king.
29 And the king said unto him, Whv speakest thou any more of
thy matters ? I have said. Thou and 2iba divide the land.
30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king. Yea, let him take all,
forasmuch as my lord the king is come, again in peace unto his own
house.
31 t And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and
went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.
32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old:
582 SECOND SAMUEL XIX — ^BARZILLAl's FRIENDSHIP
and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim;
for he wds a very great man.
33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and
I will feed thee ^th me in Jerusalem.
34 And Barzillai said unto the king. How long have I to live, that
I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem ?
35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between
food and evil ? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink ? can
hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women ? where-
fore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king ?
36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and
why should the king recompense it me with such a reward ?
37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in
mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my
mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let mm go over with my
lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.
38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and
I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatso-
ever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.
39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was
come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned
unto his own place.
40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with
him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half
the people of Israel.
41 ^ And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said
unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee
away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's
men with him, over Jordan ?
42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because
the king is near of kin to us : wherefore then be ye angry for this mat-
ter ? have we eaten at all of the king's cost! or hath he given us any gift ?
43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, ana said.
We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more riqkl in David
than ye; why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be
first had in bringing back our king ? And the words of the men of
Judah were fiercer Uian the words of the men of Israel.
Cfiapter 20
1 By oeeasion off the quarrd, Sheba makeih a party in Itrad. 3 IXtvicTa ten coneubinu an thut up in perpehtai
prieon. 4 Amaaa, made captain over Judah, ie dain by Joab. 14 Jodb pureueth Sh^M wUo Abel. 16 A viee
woman eaveth the city by Sheba*8 head. 23 David'e officere.
T^-TT^
there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name
was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a
trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have
we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.
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ITALIAN PAINTER, DIED 1648.
*
**ne was ruddy^ and wUhal of a beaut^id eouubnano^
and goodly to look to."—/. Sam., 16, 12.
THE childhood of this lemarkablf jouth David
was such as to fit him most effectivdy for the great
work of his later years. He was bom. in the
tumultuous days of Saul's ill-balanced kingfhip» when
Israel was struggling for her very life against the increas-
ing power of the Philistines. The land knew no peace,
no security; a Philistine attack was always possible, or
a raid from the more distant desert tribes, or even some
sudden blow from the hand of Saul himself.
David's birthplace was Bethlehem, that little mountain
city where Benjamin the youngest of the children of
Jacob had first seen the light, centuries before, and where
centuries later was to be bom a babe yet more marvelous.
David's father Jesse, while not a wealthy man, was a
leader in the tribe of Judah, grandson to that Ruth the
Moabitess whose loyalty had made her beloved of Boaz.
The boy was the youngest of ten children, and hence
in a family of full grown men he was the least noted, the
least important His duty was to tend his father's sheep,
a work involving much wandering over the bleak hills,
in storm as well as sunshine, in silence and in solitude,
a life tending to self reliance and to meditation, a life
which still finds its echo in many of those
wonderful Psalms which the shepherd
learned to sing.
iv-5
SECOND SAMUEL XX — ^REBELLION OF SHEBA 583
8 So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed
Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king,
from Jordan even to Jerusalem.
3 ^ And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took
the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house,
and put them in ward and fed them, but went not in unto them. So
they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.
4 ^ Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah
within three days, and be thou here present.
5 So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried
longer than the set time which he had appointed him.
6 And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do
us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and
pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us.
7 And there went out after him Joab'3 men, and the Cherethites,
And the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of
Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
8 When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa
went before tftem. And Joab's garment that he had put on was
£'rded unto him, and upon it a girdle wUh a sword fastened upon his
ins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.
9 And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother ? And
Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand:
so he smote him therewith in the fifth ri&, and shed out his bowels
to the ground, and struck him not s^ain; and he died. So Joab
and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.
11 And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said. He that favoiu**
eth Joab, and he that is for David, let him ao after Joab.
12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway.
And when the man saw that all the. people stood still, he removed
Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him,
when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.
13 When he was removed out of the highwav, all the people went
on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
14 ^ And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and
to Beth-maachah, and all the Berites : and they were gathered together,
and went also after him.
15 And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maachah,
and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench:
and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw
it down.
16 ^ Then cried a wise woman out of the city. Hear, hear; say,
I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.
17 And when he was come near unto her, the woman said. Art
584 SECOND SAMUEL XX — DOWNFALL OF SHEBA
thou Joab ? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him.
Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.
18 Then she spake, saying. They were wont to speak in old time,
saying. They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the
matter,
19 I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou
seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel : why wilt thou swal-
low up the inheritance of the Lord ?
20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that
I should swallow up or destroy,
21 The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba
the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king,.
even against David : deliver him only, ana I will depart from the city.
And the woman said, imto Joab, 6ehold, his head shall be thrown
to thee over the wall.
22 Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom.
And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it
out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city,,
every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king*
23 1[ Now Joab wa^ over all the host of Israel : and Benaiah the
son of Jehoiada wa^ over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:
24 And Adoram wa^ over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of
Ahilud was recorder:
25 And Sheva was scribe : and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests :
26 And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David,
Chapter 21
1 TJu three yeart? (amine for the Gibeoniies ceaeelh, by hanging eeven of Saul* 8 sons. 10 Rizpah^s kindness uni»
the dead. 12 David burieth the bones of SatU and Jonathan in his father's sepulchre. 15 Four batUes against
the Philistines, uAerein four valiants of Dand slay four giants.
IHEN there was a famine in the days of David three years»
year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the
Lord answered, // is for Saul, and for his bloody house^
because he slew the Gibeonites.
2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now
the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant
of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them:
and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and
Judah.)
3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for
you.^ and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless
the inheritance of the Lord.^
4 And the Gibeonites said unto him. We will have no silver nor
gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man
m Israel. And he said. What ye shall say, that will I do for you.
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BT JUUUS aCHNOBR, A LKADEB OF THE 4UBCSNT
NAZARINE SCHOOL IN OEBMAN ABT.
4-
For Ihe^Lord seeth not a$ man seeth;for man lookeih
on the outward appearance, but the Lord lookeih on the
heaHJ*--!. Sam., 16, 7.
THE aged Samud, in those days of David's youth,
was still a mighty figure in Israel. His position
as "judg^'* the active leadership oi the people,
he had resigned to Saul when he anointed Saul as king;
but he was still the great prophet, interpreting the voice
of God to Israd. Moreover he had founded at his
home in Ramah a celebrated school in which the ablest
and the purest oi the Hebrew youth learned their rdigioua
faith from him.
The chief grief of Samuel's declining days lay in his
break with Saul, whom he had loved. Then one day there
came to the aged prophet a divine rebuke that he should
still mourn for Saul, and a command that he should go to
Bethlehem, to the home of Jesse, to anoint another king.
Samuel obeyed. When the sons of Jesse were brought
before him, he would have selected the eldest, Eliab; for
Eliab was even as Saul had been, a huge, powerful, reso-
lute, savage-looking man, who might easily enforce his
rule upon others. But the divine whisper chedced Samuel
with those etemaUy comforting words, "The Lord seeth
not as man seeth." As each of Jesse's seven older sons
passed before Samuel, the Lord rejected each. The puz-
zled prophet asked if there were no other son, and young
David was summoned from the she^fold.
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■■■I. ■■■■■igaap"™" a— —^j
iv-6
SECOND SAMUEL XXI — rRIZPAH 585
5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and
that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining
in any of the coasts of Israel,
6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang
them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose.
And the king said, I will give them.
7 But the King spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son
of Saul, because of the Lord s oath that was between them, between
David and Jonathan the son of SauL
8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah^
whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and mephibosheth: and the five
sons of IMichaP the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for
Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and
they hanged them in the hill before the Lord : and they fell all seven
together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first
daySy in the beginning of barley harvest.
10 ^ And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread
it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water
dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of
the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aian, the
concubine of Saul had done.
12 ^ And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of
Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen
them from the street of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hanged
them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones
of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were
hanged.
14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the
country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father:
and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God
was intreated for the land.
15 ^ Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and
David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the
Philistines: and David waxed faint.
16 And Ishbi-benob; which was of the sons of the giant, the weight
of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he
being girded with a new swordy thought to have slain David.
17 fiut Abishai the son of Zeruian succoured him, and smote the
Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him,
sa3Hlng, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quenck
not the light of Israel.
iBee I. Sam. 18, 19. The mother in this case must have been Merab not Mlchal.
SS6 SECOND SAMUEL XXU — DAVID's THANKSGIVING
18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with
the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph,
which was of the sons of the giant.
19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where
Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Beth-lehemite, slew the brother of
Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great
stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes,
four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the
brother of David slew him.
22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand
of David, and by the hand of his servants.
Chapter 22
A psabn ^ fhofUugMng for Ocd^s powerful ddiverance, and mamfoid Mewftigt.
David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in
the day thai the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of
all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:*
2 And he said. The Ix>rd is my rock, and my fortress, and my
deliverer;
3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the
horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour;
thou savest me from violence.
4 I will call on the Lord, wJio is worthy to be praised: so 3hall I
be saved from mine enemies.
5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly
men made me afraid;
6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death
prevented me;
7 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God:
and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry dtd enter
into his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven
moved and shook, because he was wroth.
9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his
mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it.
10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness
wa^ under his feet.
11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon
the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters
and thick clouds of the skies.
iTbe entire chapter foUowliis this vene is printed as a chant In the Revised Version.
..\>.^
BT CLAUDE OELl£e, CAJJLED CLAUDB-LOaADr, A
FBENCH MASTER, DIED 1^2.
4-
**And the Spirit of the Lord earns upon David from thai
day forward,** — I, Sam,t 16y IS.
AT SIGHT of David, Samud knew at once that
this youth was the one chosen of God to be His
king. So the prophet made preparation, and
anointed David there in presence of his family, pouring
upon his head the horn of oil, perhaps the very same from
which he had before anointed Saul.
This ceremony was no slight matter. Had knowledge
of it come to Saul, he might well have slain not only Samuel
and David, but the latter's entire family. Indeed Samuel
had made this a plea to God for escaping the entire mission:
"How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me." Hence
the prophet had come to Bethlehem under ptetense of
mjtlcing a religious sacrifice, and the anointment of David
was not made before the general public, neither could it
have been conducted in any such elaborate house or temple
as the celebrated old master-painter here depicts. Only
the solemnity of the scene can be accepted as genuine.
Even David's own family do not seem to have known the
true import of the ceremony. They continued to look
upon the youth as a mere shepherd boy, not as a future
king. Nay, the lad himself may not have been told at
first for just what the Lord had chosen him. Yet his
heart was thenceforth set upon the future; and his medita-
tions turned to high and noble things.
iv-7
SECOND SAMUEL XXII — DAVID*S PSALM 587
IS Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered
his voice.
15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and dis-
comfited them.
16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the
world were discovered, at the rebuking of the IjOrd, at the blast of
the breath of his nostrils.
17 He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many
waters;
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that
hated me: for they were too strong for me.
19 They prevented^ me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord
was my stay.
20 He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me,
because he delighted in me.
21 The I^RD rewarded me according to my righteousness : accord-
ing to the cleanness of my hands hath ne recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly
departed from my God.
23 For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes,
I did not depart from them.
24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine
iniqui^.
25 Therefore the Lord hath recompensed me according to my
righteousness; according to ray cleanness in his eye-sight.
26 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the
upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.
27 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the forward
thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.
28 And the afiiicted people thou wilt save : but thine eyes are upon
the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.
29 For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my
darkness.
30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I
leaped over a wall.
31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried:
he t^ a buckler to all them that trust in him.
32 For who is God, save the Lord ? and who is a rock, save our
God?
33 God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way
perfect.
34 He maketh my feet hke hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my
high places.
*Tlie Revised Venlon reads, "They came upon me," etc
588 SECOND SAMUEL XXII — DAVID's PSALAI
35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken
by mine arms.
36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy^
gentleness hath made me great.
37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did
not slip.
38 1 have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned
not again until I had consumed them.
39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could
not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.
40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle : them that rose
up against me hast thou subdued under me.
41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I
might destroy them that hate me.
42 They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the Lord^
but he answered them not.
' 43 Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp
them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.
44 Thou also hast deli vered me from the strivings of my people, thou
hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not
shall serve me.
45 Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they
hear, they shall be obedient unto me.
46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their
close places.
47 The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the
God of the rock of my salvation.
48 It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people
under me,
49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast
lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast
delivered me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the
heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.
51 He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy
to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.
Chapter 23
1 David, in hi$ latl words, professelh his faith in God's promises to be beyond sense or experience. 6 The different
ataU at (he widced, 8 A caUUogue of David^s mighty men.
lOW these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse
said, the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,*
2 The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my
tongue.
The first seven verses of this chapter are printed as a chant in the Revised Version.
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CRBXarOPHER WILLIAMS,
IN THS
ENGUBH BOTAL ACAOEIIT IN 190(1.
*'Btd the spirit cf the Lord departed from Savly and an
evU epiriifrom the Lord troubled him.** — I. Sam.^ 16» H,
WHILE David thus grew in purity and power,the life
of Saul, the IdDg. mmk ever into bl»dcer deep..
Had Saul been only an evil man» he might have
been less unhappy, being blinded and thus ignorant of his
own fall. But he could never forget those earlier days
when he had been indeed the chosen of the Lord, when he
had listened to Samuel's teachings and printed under his
guidance. Now, the king had grown covetous, and false,
and treacherous. He no longer felt confidence in God,
nor had he that earlier desire to aid his people. He used
his kingship for his own selfish oods. Yet at times some-
thing of his ancient inspiration, his you&ful courage and
joy and noble purpose still returned to him. He was still
the one man strong enough to defend Israel from the
Philistines.
In addition to his naturaUy increasing gloom, Saul was
also troubled by a specific malady; "an evil spirit from
the Lord troubled him;" he had fits of actual insanity.
Sometimes a brooding melancholy took possession <^ him,
he sank into a stupor of sadness from which his servants
could not rouse him. Or if roused, he flashed out into
sudden murderous frenzy, striking wildly at those whom
most he loved.
7 .a\
iv-8
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SECOND SAMUEL XXIII — THE THREE MIGHTY MEN 5S9
3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me. He that
Tuleth over men mtist he just, ruling in the fear of God.
4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth,
even a moraing without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of
the earth by clear shining after rain.
5 Although my house he not so with God ; yet he hath made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things^ and sure : for this is
all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
6 ^ But the sons of Belial shall he all of them as thorns thrust away,
because they cannot be taken with hands:
7 But the man that sliall touch them must be fenced with iron and
the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the
^a7n€ place.
8 ^ These he the names of the mighty men whom David had:
The T?achmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the
same wa^ Adino the Eznite : he lift up his spear against eight hundred,
whom he slew at one time.
9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of
the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines
that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were
gone away:
10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary,
and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great
victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.
11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite.
And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a
piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines.
12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and
slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory.
13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David
in the harvest time unto the cave of AduUam: and the troop of the
Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.
14 And David wa^ then in an hold, and the garrison of the Phil-
istines wa^ then in Beth-lehem.
15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me
drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!
16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Phil-
istines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that wa^ by
the gate, and took ity and brought it to David : nevertheless he would
not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord.
17 And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this:
is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives ?
therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty
men.
18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief
590 SECOND SAMUEL XXIII — THE THIKTY CAPTAINS
among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and
slew inemy and had the name among three.
19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their
captain: howbeit he attained not unto the first three,
20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of
KabzeeU who had done many acts, he slew two Uonlike men of Moab:
he went down also and slew a Uon in the midst of a pit in time of snow :
21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man : ana the Egyptian had
a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked
the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.
22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name
among three mighty men,
23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to
the first three. And David set him over his guard.
24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one oi the thirty; Elhanan the
son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,
25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,
26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
27 Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebimnai the Hushathite,
28 Zaimon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
29 Heleb the son of Baanah a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai
out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,
30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,
31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,
32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,
33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite,
34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam
the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
36 Tgal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
37 ^lek the Ammonite, Nahari the Beerothite, armourbearer to
Joab the son of 2^ruiah,
38 Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite,
39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.
Chapter 24
1 David, tempted bu Satan, farcdh Joab to number the people. 5 The captaine, in nine monthe and twenty daya^
bring the mueter of thirteen nundred thousand fighting men. 10 David, having three vlaguee propounded by Gad,
repenteth, and chooeeth the three days' pestilence. 15 Alter the death of threescore and ten thousand, David by re-
pentance prevcnteth the destruction of Jerusalem. 18 David, by Gad's direction, purdiaseth Araunah*s IAremin(r-
floor; where having sacrificed, the plague stayeth.
ND again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,
and he moved David against them to say. Go, number Israel
and Judah.*
2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was
sThis should be compared with the other account of this numbering (I. Chron.. 21), in order to be under-
itood.
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ABnST, PAINTED 1877.
*
*^And it eame to pass^ when the evU epiritjrom Ood was
upon Satd^ that David took an harp^ and fiayed wUh hie
hand; eo Saul was refreshed" — /. SiMm^ I69 iSS.
OUT of Saul's bioodiiig sidmas. came his fint
meeting with David. The king's servants, sedc-
ing by every means to soothe their master, whom
they still loved, found that music calmed his melancholy
fits as naught else could. Now the lad David already
began to be known as a singer and player upon the harp.
Perhaps the Bible story here is slightly confused. It seems
made up from two accounts of the same happenings; and
perhaps David was only brought to Saul after the young
man had become noted as the slayer of Goliath. Our
present version, however, places his first coming to Saul
before his earliest military ex{^oit.
Accepting this account, David would have been still
in his first youth when Saul sent word to the lad's fa&er,
Jesse, bidding him send the boy to the king's court So
David came, bearing a simple present to the monarch;
and there, playing on his harp, he so soothed Saul's
troubled soul that the fierce warrior ** loved him g^reatly."
The king owed gratitude also to David; for, because of
the music, "Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil
spirit departed from him."
w
iv-9
SECOND SAMUEL XXIV — THE NUMBERING OP THE PEOPLE 591
with him. Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even
to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the num-
ber of the people.
3 And Joab said unto the king. Now the Lord thy God add unto
the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the
eyes of my lord the lang may see U: but why doth my lord the king
delight in this thing ?
4 Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and
against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the
host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people
of Israel.
5 ^ And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the
right side of the city that lietk in the midst of the river of Gad, and
toward Jazer:
6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi;
and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon,
7 And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the
Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of
Judah, even to Beer-sheba.
8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jeru-
salem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the
king: and there were m Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men
that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand
men.
10 % And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the
people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in
that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the
iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
11 For when David was up in the mormng, the word of the Lord
came unto the prophet Gad, jOavid's seer, saying,
12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I oflFer thee three
things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him. Shall
seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land ? or wilt thou flee
three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that
there be three days* pestilence in thy land ? now advise, and see what
answer I shall return to him that sent me.
14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall
now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me
not fall into the hand of man.
15 ^ So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning
even to the time appointed: and there oied of the people from Dan
even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.
16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem
^94 SECOND SAMUEL XXIV — THE PESTILENCE
to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel
that destroyed the people, It is enough; stay now thine hand. And
the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Araunah the
Jebusite.
17 And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that
smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wick-
edly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray
thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
18 ^ And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him. Go
up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the
Jebusite.
19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the
Lord commanded.
30 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming
on toward him : and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before
the king on his face upon the ground.
21 And Araunah said, \\"herefore is my lord the king come to his
servant? And David said. To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to
build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from
the people.
33 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and
offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt
sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the
oxen for wood.
23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, ^ve unto the king.
And Araunah said unto the king. The Ix)rd thy God accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy
it of Ihee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord
my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the
threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered
biu-nt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for
the land, ana the plague was stayed from Israel.
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FBOU AN ITALIAN KNOBAYINO OF
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**And EUab's anger
IdndUd agaifui DavH
hithtrr—I. Sam
and
17. es.
doid. Why eamesi thou down
IF DAVID leaDy yisiled Saul at so early a period, then
he must have beea whollj forgotten at the court.
Perhaps Saul's malady left him with but feditle memory
of his times of illness. At any rate David was again at
home, undistinguished as ever» when a new war arose
with the Philistines. Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse, joined
the Hebrew army with two of his brothers; and, as the
troops lay encamped near Bethlehem, it chanced that
David was sent to bear provisions to the brothers, and a
present to their captain. He found the army in sad tor-
mcnl. A deep valley or gully separated them from the
Philistine forces, so that neither party could cross and
mardi up to attadt the other except at great disadvantage.
Therefore the hostile armies had lain long awaiting each
other; and every day a diampion of the 'Philistines, the
giant Goliath, near ten feet in height, strode forward,
ridiculing Israel and diaUenging any one to fight him.
No man dared.
Now David, coming to his brothers, began immediately
to inquire of this thing; for it seemed to him disgraceful
that Israel should be so shamed and insulted by her ene-
mies. His brother Eliab, big enough perhaps and noted
enough to have been diosen as Israel's champion, an-
swered the lad angrily and sulkily, bid<Ung him tend to his
sheep. David replied gently, yet pernsted in learning
more of this sad matter.
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Sntroliuttton to t^ SixA liooit of iUng£(
The two books of Kings, like those of Samuel, were originally one, and appear to have
been first divided bj the Greek translators. The point where the division is made is unim-
portant, as b also that between Second Samuel and First Kings, ail four books forming a
continuous narrative, and the life of David being carried over from Samuel to Klings.
There is, however, a marked difference of value and impression between Kings and
Samuel. The earlier work tells of the formation and consolidation of the kingdom of the
Israelites; the later one, after the story of the splendid reign of Solomon, speaks of its dis«
integration and downfall. The fall of Northern Israel occurred in 722 B. C, the fall of
Judah in 586 B. C.
The authorship of Kings is unknown; it has sometimes been assigned to Jeremiah.
Modem criticism accepts the general idea that it must have been compiled about Jeremiah's
day. Some of the passages seem to indicate positively that the bulk of the writing was done
after King Josiah's reforms (621 B.C.), but not later than the early part of the Babylonian
captivity, which began in 586 B. C. At this period, then, the narrative was probably put
together in its present form. But the books explicitly declare themselves to be compiled
from earlier sources. Three main sources thus mentioned in the biblical text are "The
book of the Acts of Solomon," "The Annals of the Kings of Israel," and "The Annals of
the Kings of Judah." We find mention of an "official recorder" under each of the four
chief kings, David, Solomon, Hezekiah and Josiah; and presumably these recorders prepared
the annab studied by the later scribe. Other works employed by him were doubtless, some
andent history of the prophet Elijah, also one of Elisha, other prophetic narratives, and the
records of the temple.
The purpose of the books is clearly a religious one. They are not primarily a history,
but narrate the facts of history in order to insist always and passionately on one great re-
ligious truth, that whole-hearted loyalty to Jehovah alone insures true national prosperity
and that the downfall of the nation was the result of sin, and more especially the sin of idolatry,
the most distinctive feature of which is the illegitimacy of all worship outside of the central
sanctuary the temple at Jerutelem. In the framework of the compiler which begins and
concludes the various narratives of the reigns of the Klings, this forms the basis of the
judgment on the character of the particular king.
In First Kings, Solomon is the central figure of the first eleven chapters. His reign is not,
however, told chronologically like David's. In the center of the story stands his activity
in connection with the building of the Temple of the Lord and of his palace, with the con*
nected events. This report is framed on either side with stories which celebrate his wisdom,
inight and wealth.
In diapter eleven we get the warning of approaching disaster, in the rebellion of Edom,
of Damascus and of Jeroboam. After Solomon's death comes the division of his kingdom
593
594
INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS
nnder his stubborn and foolish son. Judah and the surrounding districts remain as a King*
dom of Judah. But all the tribes of the north and east break away and set up their Kingdom
(rf Israd, with its capital first at Tirzah and afterward at Samaria. Then follows the tragic
[Hcture of the complete apostacy of Israel, and of the partial apostacy of Judah. The local
deities of the Canaanites, the Baalim, ore worahipped, and excesses indulged in so abhorrent
that they are not fully told. Punishment follows, warfare, plague, and famine, national
defeat and decay, with iodiridual disgrace and death. Toward the close of First Kings the
mighty figure of the prophet Elijah appears, the one stem upholder of the ancient faith
against King Ahab and his queen, Jeiebel, who had introduced the worship of the Tyrian
Baal into Northern Israel. The book closes with the grim verification of Elijah's misuon
as proven by Ahab's tragic death.
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A OONTEMPORART ABHErr,
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"Thy servard kept his father's sheep: and there came
a luniy and a bear^ and took a lamb out of the Jlock/' —
/. Sam., 17, 3J^.
DAVID'S questiomngs about Goliath came presentlj
to the notice of the king, who sent for him. To
Saul, the young hero promptly offered to fight
the Philistine. Such an offer was not to be accepted
lightly; for Goliath had repeatedly made the proposition
that the war should be settled by this single combat, the
countrymen of the vanquished were to submit and become
servants to the others. Of course no such formal agree-
ment had been made, but the result of the combat could
not fail to have a vast effect upon the spirits of both sides.
Hence Saul would have put aside David's offer con-
temptuously; but the youth told him of two earlier com-
bats in which he had already succeeded. A lion had
attacked the flock of the shepherd lad, and so also had a
bear. Each time the boy had met the ravager face to face,
in defense of his helpless sheepi "When he rose against
me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew
him."
Then David added to his story that solemn profession
of his faith, which set its eternal stamp on his young Hfe.
'*The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion,
and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver
me out of the hand of this Philistine.**
iv-11
THE riEST BOOK OF THE
Hinssi,
COMMONLY CALLED, THE THIRD BOOK OF THE
Cbaiittr I
I AbiAM dierMat Datid in hit txireme tut. G Adonijali, DaviiTt darling,
couiuel^ NaOusn, IS BaOi-Atba moteUi the king, 22 and Nathan t -■-"■ '-
SaU^JUM, 32 Solomon, by David't appointment, being anoinltd ki... .,
41 Jonathan Mnging Ihae neun, Adonijak't gvettt fly, SO Adonijah. flying to tht i
._. _^_.._ ^ ((jjBiinBd by Soiomon.
... - - ,, — Oit kingdom. U By Ou
lecondeth her. 28 David r«n«iM(fi Alia soul to
by Zadot and Nathan, the people triumph,
a.-- — i„.k. >, et the altar, upon hit good
lOW king David was old and stricken
in years; and they covered him
with clothes, but he gat no heat.
2 Wherefore his servants said
unto him, Let there be sought for
my lord the king a young virgin:
and let her stand before the king,
and let her cherish him, and let her
lie in thy bosom, that my lord the
king may get heat.
3 So they sought for a fair damsel
throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunam-
mite, and brought her to the king.
4 And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and minis-
tered to him: but the king knew her not.
5 t Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I
will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and nfty
men to run before him.
6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying.
Why ha.it thou done so P and he also was a very goodly man; and h/ts
momer bare him after Absidom.
596 FIRST KINGS I — ^ADONUAH's REBELLION
7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar
the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.
8 But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and
Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which
belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.
9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone
of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren the
king's sons, and all the men of Jiidah the king's servants:
10 But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men,
and Solomon his brother, he called not.
11 f Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the mother of
Solomon, sa^ng, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Hag-
gith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not ?
12 Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel,
that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son
Solomon.
13 Go and get thee in unto king David, and sav unto him. Didst
not thou, my lord, O king, swear imto thine handmaid, saying. As-
suredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon
my throne ? why then doth Adonijah reign ?
14 Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will
come in after thee, and confirm thv words.
15 1[ And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber:
and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered
unto the king.
16 And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king.
And the king said. What wouldest thou ?
17 And she said imto him. My lord, thou swarest by the Lord
thy God unto thine handmaid, saying^ Assuredly Solomon thy son
shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.
18 And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the
king, thou knowest it not:
19 And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance,
and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and
Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not
called.
20 And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee,
that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord
the king after him.
21 Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall
sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted
oflFenders.
22 1[ And, lo. while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the
prophet also came in.
23 And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet.
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FROM ▲ MEDIAEVAL ITAUAN SERIES OF ENGRAYINGB.
*!-
And Savl armed David wiik his armour^ and he put
a hdmei of brass upon his head; also he armed him with
a coat of mail,** — I, Sam.^ 17, S8.
DAVID'S simple strength of oonfidenoe in God
roused King Saul's own wavering faith. He saw
in Dayid such a spirit as his own had been in
his younger, happier days. Moreover David had pierced
to the heart of the matter at issue, as no other had in all
the army. This was not a mere question of man against
man, but of brute strength against moral strength. The
question was whether the Israelites reaUy believed that
God ruled the world, and was able and willing to protect
the righteous. In a sudden flash of inspiration Saul saw
this, even as David saw it; and the king accepted the
youthful champion: "Go, and the Lord be with thee."
Then doubt returned to Saul. He sought physical
means of strength. He insisted on dothing David in a
suit of the king's own armor. The lad submitted; he
even girded on Saul's sword, and essayed to march forth
in a huge panoply of mail which must have been a world
too large for him and too heavy to bear. Then immediately
his better sense checked him. He stripped off every bit
of the armor. "I can not go with these," he said, **for
I have not proved them.'
iv-12
FIRST KINGS I — SOLOMON CROWNED 597
And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before
the king with his face to the ground.
24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah
shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne ?
25 For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle
and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the kind's sons, and the
captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat
and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.
26 But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not
called.
27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed
it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king
after him ?
28 ^ Then king David answered and said. Call me Bath-sheba.
And she came mto the king's presence, and stood before the
29 And the king sware, and said. As the Lord liveth, that hath
redeemed my soul out of all distress,
30 Even as I sware unto thee by the Lord God of Israel, saying.
Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon
my throne in my stead; even so \^Till I certainly do tliis day.
31 Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did
reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.
32 f And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan
the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came
before tne king.
33 The kinff also said unto them. Take with you the servants of
vour lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule,
ind bring him down to Gihon:
34 Ana let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him
there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God
save king Solomon.
35 Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon
my throne; for he shall be king in mv stead: and I have appointed
him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.
36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said.
Amen : the Lord God of my lord the king say so too.
37 As the Lord hath been with my lord the king, even so be he
with Solomon, and make his throne greater than tne throne of my
lord king David.
38 So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went
down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and
brought him to Gihon.
598 FIRST KINGS I — ^ADONUAH PARDONED
39 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle^
and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the
people said, God save king Solomon.
40 And all the people came up after him, and the people piped
with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the
sound of them.
41 ^ And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it
as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the soiind
of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in
an uproar.?
42 And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar
the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art
a valiant man, and bringest good tidinp.
43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord
king David hath made Solomon king.
44 And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan
the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites,
and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's
mule:
45 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed
him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoic-
ing, so tnat the city rang again. This is tne noise that ye have
heard.
46 And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom.
47 And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king
David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name,
and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed
himself upon the bed.
48 And also thus said the king. Blessed he the Lord God of Israel,
which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even
seeing it.
49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and
rose up, and went every man his way.
50 Tl And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and
went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fearelh
king Solomon : for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar,
sa3ang, Let king Solomon swear unto me to-day that he will not slay
his servant with the sword.
52 And Solomon said. If he will shew himself a worthy man, there
shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be
found in him, he shall die.
53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the
altar. And ne came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solo-
mon said unto him, Go to thine house.
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UTEBATUBE PITBlJSUINa CO.
" Then David said .... Thou contest to me vilh
tword, and irilh a gpear, and with a ihteld: but I eome
tkte in !he name of the Lord of fuMte." — 7. Sam., 17,
i5
SO DAMB went forth armed only with his slaff.
just as he liad gone against the lion and the bear
Pausing at the brook between the armies, he selected
five smooth stones &tted for the sling he carried. Then
clambering up the farther slope, he approached Goliath
Now Goliath was no ordinary champion. Not onh
was he a giant, descended we are told from the ancient
race of giants who hod once peopled the land. lie was
also a man practiced in war and famous for hia successes
The Jewish ■"Targum" tells us that he had led the Phil-
istines in that earlier war in which the ttrk had been cap-
tured. He boasted that he had tlien slain both of \h''
Hebrew leaders, the two son.** of the highpriesi, Eli, huge
men like their father. So when Goliath saw the stripling
who advanced against him, he was too angry to laugh
He thought some insult was intended him. "Am I a,
dog," he cried, "that thou pomesl to me with staves?"
The shepherd lad answered in those famous words
which drew so sharply the distinction between himself and
his boastful antagonist. His speech was brief, rising
to its impassioned close: "And all this assembly i
know that the Lord anveth not with sword and spear:
for the battle is the Lord's, and he will
give you into our bands."
FIRST KINGS II — DAVID's DEATH 599
Chapter 2
1 DofBid, having ffivm a charge to Soiomon, 3 of reHaiougneaa , 5 of Jodb, 7 of Baneim, 8 of Shimti, ^OjiU^.
12 SoUmum nuxeeddh. 13 Adonijah, moving Baih-Jheba to me unto Solomon for Abishao, is vui to death. 2^
Atriathar, having his life given him, U deprived of the priesthood. 28 Joab fleeing to the horns of the altar w there
slain. 35 Benaiah is mdin Joab*e room, and Zadok in Abiathar '«. 36 Shimei, confined to Jerusalem, by occasion
of going thence to Oath, is put to death.
OW the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he
charged Solomon his son, saying,
2 1 go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore^
and shew thyself a man;
3 And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways,
to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and
his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that tnou mayest
prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:
4 That the Lord may continue his word which he spake concern-
ing me, saving, If thy children take heed to their way, to w alk before
me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not
fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.
5 Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did
to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto
Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he
slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war
upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were
on his feet.
6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head
go down to the grave in peace. ^
7 But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and
let them be of those that eat at thy table : for so they came to me when
I fled because of Absalom thy brother.
8 And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Ben-
jamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day
when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan,
and I sware to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death
with the sword.
9 Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man,
and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head
bring thou dow^n to the grave with blood.
10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David.
11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years:
seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned
he in Jerusalem.
12 ^ Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and
his kingdom was established greatly.
13 1 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the
The Azneiican RevUAon changes ** the grave" to " Sheol " both here and In verse 9.
600 FIRST KINGS II — ^BATH-SHEBa's PETITION
mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably ? And
he said. Peaceably.
14 He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And
she said. Say on.
15 And he said. Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and
thai all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the
kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother*s: for it was his
from the Lord.
16 And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she
said unto him. Say on.
17 And he said. Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, (for
he will not say thee nay,) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite
to wife.
18 And Bath-sheba said. Well; I will speak for thee unto the king.
19 ^ Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto
him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed
himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to
be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand;
20 Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee: / pray ihee^
say me not nay. And the king said unto her. Ask on, my mother:
for I will not say thee nay.
21 And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adoni-
jah thy brother to wife.
22 And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother. And
why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah ? ask for
him the kingdom also; for ne is mine elder brother; even for him,
and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
23 Then kine Solomon sware by the Lord, saying, God do so to
me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his
own life.
24 Now therefore, as the Lord liveth, which hath established me,
and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me
an house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.
25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
26 ^ Aiid unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Gret thee to Ana-
thoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will
not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the
Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been
afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.
27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the
Lord; that he might fulfil the word oi the Lord, which he spake
concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. ^
iSee I. Sun.' 2, 27->36 for the prophecy against EU's house, of which Abiathar was the sole reraatninc
descendant.
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P FRESCOES IS THE
"So David preixiiled over the PkilUtin* vitk a tltng
and xr'uk a gloat, and smote ike PhilUtine, arid ^cw him." —
/. Sow., 17, 50.
THE match belween Dand and Goliath was not
really so unequal as it seemed, except that men
find it difficult to change their habits of thought,
and thus those accustomed to a certain style of warfare can
not easily invent or even conceive another. The fighting
of David's day was done body to body, so tliat brute
strength, especially when reinforced by the rare and costly
armor, was the main retjuisite. But any red Indian of
the plains, accustomed to arrow and tomahawk, would
have declared the chances all in Da\1d's f»vor. He had
his sling, and his enemy's face was unprotected by armor.
The Israelites were man^ of them so expert with these
slings that they could throw within a hair's breadth.
Besides, even if David missed his first cast, he must have
counted on being able tu keep at a distance from his heavily
laden antagonist; for he hud picked up not one stone
but five.
David's first missile struck the unready Golialh fair
between the eyes, crashing into his skull. The giant sank
prostrate; and. before his comrades could advance to
^uc their fallen champion. David rushed upon him
Casting aside the stall which had aroused Goliath's foolish
anger, David snatched up tne Rant's own
sword and hewed off his head.
FIKST KINGS II — ^JOAB AND SHIMEI SLAIN 601
28 % Then tidings came to Joab : for Joab had turned after Adoni-
jah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the
tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
29 And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled into the taber-
nacle of the Lord; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon
sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
30 And Benaiah came to the taoernacle of the Lord, and said
unto him. Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said. Nay; but
I will die here. And Benaian brought the king word again, saying.
Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
31 And the king said unto him. Do as he hath said, and fall upon
him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood,
which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.
82 And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, who
fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and sl«w them
with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to vnty Abner
the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of
Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and
upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his
seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace
for ever from the Lord.
34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him,
and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35 \ And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room
over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of
Abiathar.
36 f And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him.
Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth
thence any whither.
37 For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over
the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou ?halt surely
die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
38 And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good : as my lord
the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shin/ei dwelt in
Jerusalem many days.
39 And it came to pass at the end of three years, th^t two of the
servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of iMaacah }dng of Gath.
And they told Shimei, saying. Behold, thy servants he in Gath.
40 And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to
Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his ser-
vants from Gath.
41 And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem
to Gath, and was come again.
42 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him.
602 FIRST KINGS III — GOD's GIFT TO SOLOMON
Did I not make thee to swear by the Lord, and protested unto thee,
saying. Know for a certain, that on the day thou goest out, and walk-
est abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely me? and thou saidst
unto me. The word that I have heard is good.
43 Why then hast thou not kept the oatn of the Lord, and the com-
mandment that I have charged thee with ?
44 The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wicked-
ness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father:
therefore the Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;
45 And king Solomon shall be blessed, and tne throne of David
shall be established before the Lord for ever.
46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which
went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was
established in the hand of Solomon.
Chapter 3
1 Solomon marrieth Pharaoh'8 daughter, 2 High places hein^j in use, Solomon saerifketh at Gibeon. 5 Sdomon
at Gibeon, in the choice which God gave him, preferring unsdom, obtaindh wisdom, riches, and honour, 16
Solomon's judgment between the two harlots maketh him renowned.
ND Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and
took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of
David, until he had made an end of ouilding his own house.
^^1
and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
2 Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no
house built unto tne name of the Lord, until those days.
3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David
his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
4 And the King went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the
great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon oflFer upon
that altar.
5 Tl In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by
night : and God said. Ask what I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said. Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David
my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth,
and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou
hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son
to sit on his throne, sls it is this day.
7 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thv servant king
instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: 1 know not how
to go out or come in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast
chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for
multitude.
9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy
people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able
to judge this thy so great a people ?
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THE OBIGINAL IB IN THEMTJBEUH OFMHIEB.
*'And the men of lerad and Judah aro»e^ and shouted^
and pursued the PhUMneSt wM thou come to the vaUey,
and to the gates ofEknm.*'—!. Sam., 17, 5^.
GREAT was the terror of the PhOifltiiies, when they
saw their diampion slain. Doubtless the victory
of the slim joung shepherd lad seemed to them
a direct evidence that Israel possessed a god more povreiv
fill than Uieirs, and that Israd's god was bent on their
destruction. To us Grod's aid seems to have lain in giving
to EUs champion a stronger faith, a higher spirit and a
keener brain than those of Goliath. As David held up
the severed head, his own people came pouring across the
ravine in triumph, and the Phihstiiies fled.
Down from Judah's mountains swept the lout, and out
onto the plains of Philistia, the Israelites pursuing and
slaying all whom they could reach, *'even unto Grath and
unto Ekron." That is to say, the Philistines had to sedc
shelter within their own walled cities from the avenging
rage of the mountaineers. Philistia in its turn was lavaged
and plundered.
IV- 16
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FIRST KINGS III — THE TWO WOMEN JUDGED 603
10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked
this thing.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing,
and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for
thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for
thyself understanding to discern iudgment;
12 Behold, I have done accordmg to thy words: lo, I have given
thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like
thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked,
both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the
kings like unto thee all thy days.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my
commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen
thy days.
15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he
came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the
Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and oflFered peace oflFerings,
and made a feast to all his servants.
16 ^ Then came there two women, tliat were harlots, unto the
king, and stood before him.
17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell
in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered,
that this woman was aelivered also: and we were together; there was
no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid
it.
20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me,
while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her
dead child in my bosom.
21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold,
it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold,
it was not my son, which I did bear.
22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and
the dead is thy son. And this said. No, but the dead is thy son,
and the living^ is my son. Thus they spake before the king.
23 Then said the king, The one saith. This is my son that liveth,
and thy son is the dead: and the other saith. Nay; but thy son is
the dead, and my son is the living.
24 And the king said. Bring me a sword. And they brought a
sword before the King.
25 And the king said. Divide the living child in two, and give
half to the one, ana half to the other.
26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king.
604 FIRST KINGS IV — SOLOMON's OFFICERS
for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, rive
her the living child, and m no wise slay it. But the other said, Xet
it be neither mine nor thine, bui divide it.
27 Then the kin^ answered and said. Give her the living child,
and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged;
and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God wets
in him, to do judgment.
Ctiapter 4
1 8oUfmon*s princes. 7 His twdve officers for provision, 20, 24 The peace and largeness of his kingdom. 22 His
daily provision. 20 His sUMes. 29 His wisdom.
O king Solomon was king over all Israel.
2 And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the
son of Zadok the priest,
3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, tne sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat
the son of Ahilud, the recorder.
4 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok
and Abiathar were the priests:
5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud
the son of Nathan wa^ principal officer, and the king's friend:
6 And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of
Abda was over the tribute.
7 ^ And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which pro-
vided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month
in a year made provision.
8 And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:
9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-snemesh»
and Elon-beth-hanan :
10 The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and
all the land of Hepher:
11 The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Tap-
hath the daughter of Solomon to wife:
12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Me-
g'ddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah beneath JezreeU
om Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, even unto the place that is beyond
Jokneam :
13 The son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the
towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gileaa; to him also
pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great
cities with walls and brasen bars:
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim:
15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter
of Solomon to wife :
16 Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth:
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BYMATTSO
A FIX>HENTINE PAINTEB, DIED
1650. THX OBIOINAL IB IN THE IX>UVBB <
PARIS.
*'And David iook the head of ike PhUMne^ and hrovght
%i to Jerueaiemr^l. Sam., 17, 6J^
IN THE pursuit of the Fhilistmes* David apparently
took no part He had done his woik, bj arousing
the religious faith of his oountrymen, letnspiring
them with their old confidence in the right Also he had
stirred the superstitious tenor of their enemies. Now,
in high, uplifted mood, the young champion paused to
gloiy in the might of God.
Doubtless there were many to join him in his joy. Tliey
stripped the mail from the huge body of Goliath, haTwiling
the armor with amasement, weighing and measuring it,
and finally bearing it in trium[^ to David's home, whence
ultimately it was placed in one of their temples as a memo-
rial. The mighty sword of the giant, which had wrought
his own death, was also sanctified, and was placed in the
care of the highpriest of Israel, where in later days David
was to find it for his own good use. The head of Goliath,
the grimmest trophy of all, was borne by David himself
to Jerusalem, that all the people mi^t see and know from
what enemies God had delivered theou
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FIRST KINGS IV — SOLOMON's SPLENDOR 605
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar.
18 Shimei tne son of Elah, in Benjamin.
19 Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country
of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was
the only officer which was in the land,
20 ^ Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea
in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.
21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the
land of the Philistines, and unto the border of E^pt: they brought
presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 ^ And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures
of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,
23 Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an
hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, ana fallowdeer and
fatted fowl.
24 For he had dominion over all the reqion on this side the river,
from Tiphsah even to Azzah,^ over all the kings on this side the river:
and he had peace on all sides round about him.
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine
and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of
Solomon.
26 ^ And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his
chariots,^ and twelve thousand horsemen.
27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for
all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month:
they lacked nothing.
28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries' brought
they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to
Ms charge.
29 Tf And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding
much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children
of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
31 For he was wiser than all men: than Ethan the Ezrahite, and
Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame
Was in all nations round about.
32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a
thousand and nve.
33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon
even unto the nyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake, also
of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
from all kings of the earth, wnicn had heard of his wisdom.
. , 'Arzah is tbe same as Gaza, the Philistine city. <In II. Chron. 9, 25. the number of stalls is given as
lour thousand. iTbe Aerlied Vanion alters "dromedaries" to "swift steeds."
606 FIRST KINGS V — THE TREATY WITH HIRAM
Cbopter 5
1 Hiram, sending to eongraitUaU Solomon, is certified of his purpose to huUd the temple, and desired to fumiA
him with timber thereto. 7 Hiram, blessing God lor S^Aomon, and requesting food for his family, fumiAeth him
vriih trees. 13 The number of Solomon's workmen and labourers.
ND Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for
he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room
of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an
house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were
about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of
his feet.
4 But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side,
so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.
5 And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the
Lord my God, as tne Lord spake unto David my father, saying.
Thy son, whom I wdll set upon tny throne in thy room, he shall build
an nouse unto my name.
6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out
of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto
thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt
appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can
skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.
7 T[ And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon,
that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed he the Lord this day, which
hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.
8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things
which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning
timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.
9 My servants shall bring ihevi down from Lebanon unto the sea:
and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt
appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou
shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving
food for rny household.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to
all his desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat
for food to his housenold, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave
Solomon to Hiram year by year.
12 And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him:
and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon: and they two
made a league together.
13 ^ And kinff Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the
levy was thirty tnousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses:
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BY LOUIBA 8TABB* MME. CANZIANI, ▲ OONTBHFOBART
ABTIffr.
**Abner took kinij and brought him before Savl with the
head of the Philistine in his hand:'--!. Sam., 17,67.
THE head of Gdiath ms abo brought to Saul,
though whether after or beloie it had been dis^
pkijed in Jerusalem, is not quite dear. The
king in the extremity of his need had promised enormous
rewards to the nuin who should conquer Goliath. The
victor was to have great riches, his family were to be made
free from all taxes or other obligations forever; and, quite
in the style of ancient romance, he was to be wedded to
the king's daughter.
Immediately that the victory was achieved, IQng Saul,
with his shrewd, practical mind, must have turned to the
question of the promised payment If David had already
sung to him, the king had forgotten the affair; for he ques-
tioned eagerly as to who this strange youth might be
who had appeared so suddenly among the soldiers and
spoken so confidently of Grod's aid. Nor oould his closest
associates tell him. Abner, the chief general and ever
loyal servant of Saul, was sent to enquire. He found
David, still with Goliath's head, and brought him to the
king. There is no record that Saul welcomed the youth
or repeated his previous promises. Already the crafty
king may have been weighing with human wisdom the
dangers of his extravagant offer. His only recorded words
of greeting sound hard, "And Sanl said to him. Whose
son art thou, thou young man? And David
answered, I am the son of thy servant
Jesse the Beth-lehemite.'*
iv-17
FIRST KINGS VI — ^BUILDING THE TEMPLE 607
a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home : and Ado-
niram was over the levy.
15 And Solomon haa threescore and ten thousand that bare bur-
dens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
16 Beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work,
three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that
wrought in the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones,
costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them^
and the stonesquarers:^ so they prepared timber and stones to build
the house.
Chapter 6
1 The huddino of Solomon's temple. 5 The chambere thereof. 11 God*8 promise unto U. 15 The ceiling and
odoming of U. 23 The chervbime. 31 The doore. 30 The court. 37 The time of buHding U.
ND it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year
after the children of Israel were come out of the land of
Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in
the month Zif , which is the second month, that he oegan to build the
house of the Lord.
2 And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, the
len^h thereof wa^ threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty
cubtis, and the heieht thereof thirty cubits.
S And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits
was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and
ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
4 And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.'
5 7 And against the wall of the house he built chambers round
about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple
and of the oracle : and he made chambers round about :
6 The nethermost chamber wa^ five cubits broad, and the middle
V)as six cubits broad, and the third wa^ seven cubits broad: for with-
out in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about,
that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.
7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made
ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither ham-
mer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in
building.
8 The door for the middle chamber wa^ in the right side of the
house: and they went up with winding stairs into the nuddle chamber^
and out of the middle into the third.
9 So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house
with beams and boards of cedar.
'Instead of ••stoneoquarers" this should read with the Revised Version " Geballtes." Qebal was a dty
netr Lebanoti, about 20 miles north of Beirut. >The Revised Version calls these ** windows of fixed lattice
vork." What Is meant by fixed lattice work here Is not certain.
608 FIRST KINGS VI — THE HOLY OF HOLIES
10 And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits
high : and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
11 Tf And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,
12 Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt
walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, ana keep all my
commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word witn
thee, which I spake unto David thy father:
13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not
forsake my people Israel.
14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar,
both the floor of the house, and the w^alls of the ceiling: and he cov-
ered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house
with planks of fir.^
16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the
floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it
within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.
17 And the house, that w, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.
18 And the cedar of the house within wa^ carved with knops and
open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.
19 And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the
ark of the covenant of the LiORD.
20 And the oracle in the forepart wa^ twenty cubits in length, and
twenty cubits in breadth, and twentv cubits in the height thereof:
and he overlaid it with pure gold; ancf so covered the altar which was
of cedar.
21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he
made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he
overlaid it with gola.
22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had fin-
ished all the house: also the whole altar that wa^ by the oracle he
overlaid with gold.
23 Tf And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree,
each ten cubits high.
24 And five cubits wa^ the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits
the other wing of the cherub : from the uttermost part of the one wing
unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.
25 And the other cherub wa^ ten cubits: both the cherubims were
of one measure and one size.
26 The height of the one cherub wa^ ten cubits, and so was ii of
the other cherub.
27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they
stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the
one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched
>Thi8 word *'flr" can also be translated "cypiesB" wherever it occius.
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BT C. P. MARILLIER, A FaSNCH ABTI8T OV THE
EIOHTBENTH CENTURY.
**And a came to pan . . . that As tout qf JomP'
than was knU with (he soul of Davids and Jonathan loved
him as his own soul.** — /. <Sam., 18^ i.
THOUGH King Saul wavered in his attitude toward
David, there was one who did not hesitate. That
was the king's heioic son Jonathan. Jonathan
who» in just such spirit as David's, had won for Saul his
earlier great victory over the PhilistineH, was quick to
reoogniie in the younges man a natuie kindred to his own.
Perhaps also he felt the coldness of his father's reception
of their deliverer; for it must be remembered that Jona*
than himself had suffered from the wfld and unjust temper
of his father, who would have slain him in the very hour
of their greatest victory.
. So Jonathan welcomed David at once at that first meet-
ing; his soul went out to the victorious youth as to a brother.
Perhaps the two young men left Saul's presence together;
for we learn that they made an immediate compact of
friendship. "And Jonathan stripped himself of the
robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his gar*
ments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle."
If the father had no prompt reward for their heaven-sent
champion, the son gave all that he could.
iv-18
FIRST KINOS VI — THE TEMPLE FINISHED 609
the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst
of the house.
28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with
carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within
and without.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and
without.
31 T[ And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree:
the hntel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.
32 The two doors also were of olive tree ; and he carved upon them
carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and over-
laid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon
the palm trees.
33 So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree,
a fourth part of the wall.
34 Ana the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one
door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open
flowers : and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
36 T[ And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone,
and a row of cedar beams.
37 T[ In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the
Lord laid, in the month Zif :
38 And in the eleventh jear, in the month Bui, which is the eighth
month, was the house fimshed throughout all the parts thereof, and
according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.
Clbapter 7
1 The fmOdino of Solomon* s house. 2 Of the houee of Lebanon. 6 Of the porch of piUars. 7 Of the vorch cf
fudomenl. S Of the houee far Phcaraoh*a daughter. 13 Hiram'a work of the two piUare. 23 Of the moUen eea,
71 Of the ten baeee. ^ Of the ten lavere, 40 and aU the vesaele.
|UT Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and
he finished all his house.
2 Tf He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon;^
the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof
fiftv cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of
cedar pillars, with cedar oeams upon the pillars.
3 And it was covered with ceclar above upon the beams, that lay
on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.
4 And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light
in three ranks.
5 And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and
light was against light in three ranks.
iThe Revised Verston altera this verae, so that the entire passage refers to Solomon's own houae as being
built of the Lebanon wood.
610 FIRST KINOS Vn — THE SMITH's WORK
6 ^ And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof wcls fifty
cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch wcls
before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before
them.
7 ^ Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge,
even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one
side of the floor to the other.
8 ^ And his house where he dwelt had another court within the
porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house
for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife^ like unto this
porch.
9 All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of
hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the
foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great
court.
10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones,
stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed
stones and cedars.
12 And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed
stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the
house of the Lord, and for the porch of the house.
13 ^ And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tvre.
14 He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father
wa^ a man of Tyre, a worker in brass : and he was filled with wisdom,
and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And
he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
15 For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece:
and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.
16 And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the
tops of the pillars : the height of the one chapiter wa^ five cubits, and
the height of the other chapiter wa^ five cubits :
17 And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the
chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one
chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter.
18 And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the
one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with
pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter.
19 And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were
of lily work in the porch, four cubits.
20 And the chapiters upon the two pillars hxid pomegranates also
above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the
pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other
chapiter.
21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he
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NICOLAS POU88IN, THB GREAT FRENCH MAffTER
OF
BEYENTEENTH CBNTUBT.
** The women cams out of all cUiee qf leraei, singing
and dancing J to meet king Saul, wUh taJbrete^ with joy^ and
wiA inetmmente of mueie" — I, Sam.^ 18^ 6.
SAUL may not have been unjust in his first treatment
ofDaTkL TTwugh the king made no immediate
move toward fulfilling liis glowing promises, he yet
kept Dand by him throughout the war against the Riil-
istines. He even made him a leader among the soldiers,
their general in some sort, so that the untried youth must
have led Israel to victory even as the pure maid Joan of
Arc led Fnmoe.
It is lecovded diat *'David went out whithersoever Saul
seat him, and bdiaved himself wisdy.'* Then, at the
dose of the war, which may have been a year or more
after the defeat of Goliath, there was a great oeldbration
In Jerusalem. The victorious troops were welcomed
with songs and dances and processions, at which David
**WBS accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in
the sight of Saul*s servants/*
As the rejoicing people saw David they sang a song»
vdiose very words have come down to us:
"Saul hath slain his thousands.
And David his ten thousands.'*
iv-19
FIRST KINGS VII — THE TEMPLE FURNISHINGS 611
set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin : and he
set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.^
22 And upon the top of the pillars ivas lily work: so was the work
of the oillars finished.
23 ^ And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim
to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits:
and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
24 And under the brim of it round about there were knops com-
passing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about : the knops
were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
25 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north,
and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the
south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea wa^ set above
upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward,
26 And it wa^ an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was
wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained
two thousand baths.
27 ^ And he made ten bases of brass ; four cubits wa^ the length
of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the
height of it.
28 And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had bor-
ders, and the borders were between the ledges :
29 And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions,
oxen, and cherubims : and upon the ledges there was a base above : and
beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work.*
30 And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass:
and the four corners thereof had undersetters : under the laver were
undersetters molten, at the side of every addition.
31 And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above wa^ a cubit :
but the mouth thereof wa^ round (ifter the work of the base, a cubit
and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their
borders, foursquare, not round.
32 And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of
the wheels were joined to the base : and the height of a wheel wa^s a
cubit and half a cubit.
33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot
wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their
spokes, were all molten.
34 And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base :
and the undersetters were of the very base itself.
35 And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half
a cubit high : and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the
borders thereof were of the same.
1 Jachin means '*he shall establish"; Boax perhaps means *' in it Is strength." *The Revised Version
cuofes the last phrase to '* wreaths of haniglng work."
612 FIRST KINGS VII — THE IMPLEMENTS OF WOBSHIP
36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders
thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the
proportion of every one, and additions round about.
37 After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one
casting, one measure, and one size.
38 * Then made he ten la vers of brass: one laver contained forty
baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the
ten bases one laver.
39 And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on
the left side of the house : and he set the sea on the right side of the
house eastward over against the south.
40 ^ And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons.
So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king
Solomon for the house of the Lord :
41 The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that toere on
the top of two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls
of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars;
42 And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even
two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of
the chapiters that were upon the pillars;
43 And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;
44 And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
45 And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: and all these
vessels, which Uiram made to king Solomon for the house of the
Lord, were of bright brass.
46 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground
between Succoth and Zarthan.
47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they
were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found
out.
48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house
of the Lord : the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the
shewbread waSy
49 And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right sidcy and
five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and
the tongs of ffold,
50 And the Dowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons,
and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors
of the inner house, the most holy place y and for the doors of the house,
to wity of the temple.
51 So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the
house of the Lord. And Solomon brought in the things which
David his father had dedicated ; even the silver, and the golcl, and the
vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the
Lord.
**And Saul eyed David from thai day forward J* —
/. Sam., 18, 9,
THE people's song of welcome proved unfortunate
for David. Its phrasing caught the jealous ear
of the king. He argued the matter D^-ith himself:
"They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to
me thev have ascribed but thousands: and what can he
have more but the kingdom.^'* That is to say, he felt
David to be more popular than himself, and more de-
serving. On what did his own tenure of his position
depend? The prophet Samuel had repudiated him;
the religious portion of. the people shrank from him in
horror. If David did but proclaim himself king, would
not all Israel join him against Saul? Thus did Saul
revolve the question in his mind, thinking now not of
Israelis good, but only of his own.
Meanwhile David had long been the established musician
of the king, soothing him in those fits of melancholy mad*
ness, as no other had the skill to do. He was also one of
Sau]*s arraorbearers. But the jealous king now lost all
pleasure in David's music and watched him with suspicious
eyes, often doubtless as our picture shows him, inter-
rupting the strains of melody to peer deeply into the frank*
ly upturned face, as if to wrest from it some secret pk>t.
iv-20
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1^311
FIRST KINGS VIII — THE TEMPLE DEDICATED 613
Cfiopter 8
1 The featl of thededtieaUonof ihetempU. 12, 64 Soloinon'9 bleutng. 22 8dUmon'9 prayer, 62 HU meriHoB
of peace offminffe,
HEN Solomon assembled the elders of- Israel, and all the
heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children
of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that thev might
brinff up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David,
whicn IS Zion.
2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solo*
mon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh
month.
3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle
of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the taber-
nacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.
5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were
assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep
and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord
unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place^
even under the wings of the cherubims.
7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place
of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof
above.
8 And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were
seen out in the holy pUice before the oracle, and they were not seen
without: and there they are unto this day.
9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which
Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the
children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the
holy ylace^ that the cloud filled the house of the Lord.
11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the
cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
12 ^ Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in
the thick darkness.
13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for
thee to abide in for ever.
14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congre-
gation of Israel : (and all the congregation of Israel stood ;)
15 And he said. Blessed he the Lord God of Israel, which spake
with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulnlled .
t(, saying,
16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt,
I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that
614 FIRST KINGS VIII — SOLOMON's PRAYER
my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people
Israel.
17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house
for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
18 And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in
thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it
was in thine heart.
19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that
shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my
name.
20 And the Lord hath performed his word that he spake, and
I am risen up in the room of David mv father, and sit on the throne
of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built an house for the
name of the Lord God of Israel.
21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant
of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought
them out of the land of Egypt.
22 % And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the pres-
ence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands
toward heaven:
23 And he said. Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee,
in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and
mercy vnth thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:
24 Who hast kept wdth thy servant David my father that thou
promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled
tt with thine hand, as it is this day.
25 Therefore now. Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant
David my father that thou promisedst him, saying. There shall not
fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy
children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou
hast walked before me.
26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified,
which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven
and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this
house that I have builded ?
28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to
his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to
the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to-day:
29 That thine eyes mav be open toward this house night and day,
even toward the place of which thou hast said. My name shall be
there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer wnich thy servant
shall make toward this place.
30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and
of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and
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AFTER CARLE VAN-LOO, A CELEBRATED FRENCH
ARTIBT, DIED 1765.
+
" The evil spirit from God eame upon Saul . . . and
Saul cast the javdin.** — I. Sam.^ 18^ 11.
THERE came a day on which Saul's jealousy burst
bounds. His evil spirit was plaguing him. Why
should he worry his mind ceaselessly about David,
when a sin^e blow would end all doubt? The sudden
impulse overcame the horror of the deed, the slaying of
his own benefactor, of Israel's rescuer. Snatching up hn
keen bladed javelin, which lay at hand, Saul hurled it at
David.
Apparently he strove twice to pierce his victim thus;
but the quick witted David evaded the blow, sudd«i as
it must have been. Perhaps dreading Saul's increasing
madness, he was ever on the watch for some such out-
break. He does not seem, nor do any of the court, to
have blamed Saul for the deed, attributing it not to ddiber-
ate purpose but to the evil spirit which possessed the king.
Indeed we are told almost immediately afterward that
Saul began to talk seriously of performing his earlier
pledge and wedding David to his elder daughter, Merab.
The affair, however, came to nothing, David showing
little enthusiasm for it, while on Saul's part it may have
been a mere pretense; for shortly after we find him be-
stowing Merab on another and wealthier suitor.
L^y
iv-21
^
FIRST KINGS VIII — THE OCCASIONS OF PRAYER 615
hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest,
forgive.
SI % If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be
laid Upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine
altar in this house:
32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants,
condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justi-
fjing the righteous, to give him according to nis righteousness.
33 % When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy,
because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee,
and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee
in this house:
34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people
Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto
their fathers.
35 ^ When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they
have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess
thy name, and turn from their sin, wnen thou affictest them:
36 Then hear thou in heaven, cand forgive the sin of thy servants,
and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein
they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast
given to thy people for an inheritance.
37 ^ If there oe in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting,
mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them
in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness
there be;
38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or
by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his
own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and
do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou
knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the chil-
dren of men;)
40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land
which thou gavest unto our fathers.
41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel,
but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;
42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand,
and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward
this house;
43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to
all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth
may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that
they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by
thy name.
616 FIRST KIXGS VIII — ^SOLOMON BLESSES GOD
44 ^ If thy people 20 out to battle against their enemy, whitherso-
ever thou shalt send tnem, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the
city which thou hast chosen, and towara the house that I have built
for thy name:
45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication,
and maintain their cause.
46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,)
and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so
that they carry tnem away captives unto the land of the enemy, far
or near;
47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they
were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee
in the land of them that carried them captives, saying. We have
sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their
soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and
pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers,
the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built
for thy name:
49 Then hear thou their prayer and their suppUcation in heaven
thy dwelling place, and maintam their cause,
50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all
their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and
fflve them compassion before them who carried them captive, that
they may have compassion on them:
51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou
broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy ser-
vant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto
them in all that they call for unto thee.
53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the
earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy
servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
54 Tf And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying
all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before
the altar of the Lord from kneeling on his knees with his hands
spread up to heaven.
55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with
a loud voice, saying,
56 Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel,
according to all that he promised : there hath not failed one word of
all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his
servant.
57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let
him not leave us, nor forsake us:
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AFTER WOODFOBDE, AK EARLY NINETEENTH CEN-
TURY ENGUBH ARTIST.
**Wherefare Savl said to David, Thau •Aott tkit day he
my mm-inriaw.'* — I, Sam^ 18, 21.
IT WAS after Merab's wedding that the lomanoe of
love first entered David's checkered life. King
Saul had a younger daughter, lUchal. Seeing David
so often in her father's house, Midial had learned to care
deeply for the bold yet gentle youth. Apparently he
returned her affection. The wily Saul, learning how the
matter stood* seized the opportunity to expose David to
new danger. To himself the king said, "Let not my hand
be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon
him." So he had his servants hint to David that while
a poor man could pay Saul no such dowry as was customary
for a king's daughter, yet that Saul had declared he would
accept as dowry the slaughter of a hundred Philistines.
By this time David must have known the little worth
of kingly promises, yet with a lover's eagerness, he seized
the chance. He promptly headed a raid into the enemy's
land; and, having slain not one but two hundred of the
dreaded Philistines, he returned and laid at Saul's feet
the bloody evidences of their death.
This time the king kept his promise. His wavering
mind saw in David's unexpected success a further proof
that God was befriending the young man. Doubtless
also his daughter's desire swayed him, for except in his
passionate moments Saul was ever a loving father. So
he presented Michal to David, and the young
lovers were married.
iv-22
FIKST KINGS VIII — THE SACRIFICE OFFERING 617
58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his
ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his
judgments, which ne commanded our fathers.
59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication
before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night,
that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people
Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:
60 That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is
God, and that there is none else.
61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to
walk in his statutes, and to keep nis commandments, as at this day.
62 ^ And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before
the Lord.
63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he
offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hun-
dred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children
of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.
64 The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that
was before the house of the Lord : for there he offered burnt offerings,
and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the
brasen altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the
burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65 And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him,
a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river
of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days,
even fourteen days.
66 On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed
the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all
the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for
Israel his people.
Cijapter 9
1 G€d^» wtenani in a vUion with Solomon. 10 The mtUudl presents of Solomon and Hiram. 15 In Solomon^a
works the Gentiles were his bondmen, the Israelites honourable servants. 24 Pharaoh^s daughter removeth to her
Aoiue. 25 Solomon's yearly solemn sacrifices. 26 His navy fetcheth gold from Ophir.
ND it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building
of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solo-
mon's desire which he was pleased to do,
2 That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had
appeared unto him at Gibeon.
3 And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy
supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this
house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and
mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David tny father walked,
in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that
618 FIRST KINGS IX — GOD'S COVENANT
I have commanded thee» and wilt keep my statutes and my judg-
ments:
5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kin^om u]K>n Israel for
ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, Tnere shall not fail thee
a man upon the throne of Israel.
6 BtU if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children,
and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have
set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:
7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them;
and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out
of mv sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all
people:
8 And at this house, which, is high, every one that passeth by it
shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the
Lord done thus unto this land, and to this house ?
9 And they shall answer. Because they forsook the Lord their God,
who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have
taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served
them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon tnem all this evil.
10 % And it came to pass at the ena of twenty years, when Solomon
had built the two houses, the house of the Lord, and the king's house,
11 (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with
cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,)
that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of
Galilee.
12 And Siram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon
had given him; and they pleased him not.
13 And he said. What cities are these which thou hast riven me,
my brother ? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.
14 And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.
15 ^ And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised;
for to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and IVIillo,*
and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and G^zer.
16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and
burnt it with fire, ana slain tne Canaanites that dwelt in the city,
and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife.
17 And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether,
18 And Baalath, and Tadmor in the \^ilderness, in the land,
19 And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his
chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired
to build in Jerusalem,^ and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his
dominion.
20 And air the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites,
'What this "Millo" was is not positively known; probably an arsenal or military exerdsinff ground,
or perhaps a fortified viaduct connecting the palace hill with the temple hill. See chapter 10. Terse 5. Tna
Eevlsed Version reads *' desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem."
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BT W. S. STACET, FROM "one KtTMDBED BIBLE
BTOIUES," ISSUED BT THOMAS N'ELSON AND
SONS.
+
"And Jonathan UJd Darid. »aying, Satd my father
seeketii to kill Oue."~I. Sam., 19, 3.
FOR a moment, as Michal'a hnsband, DaWd stood
at the pinnacle uf his earl)* fortunes, Saul had set
his harsh rule finnly upon the Hebrews, and 'o be
bis son-in-law was to be a very great persona^ in the land.
The king's trusted comrade Abner seems to have re-
mained his chieF geaeral. Jonathan, Saul'a eldest, best
beloved son was ever at his father's side. But after these,
David was the chief man of the kingdom. He was the
active champion, always taking the field agaJnst the Phil-
istines; and, a new war arising with the old enemy, David
led the Israelites with such success that again the people
hailed him as their savior. Again the offensive echo of
their songs of praise rang through Saul's burning brain.
The king's wavering dwtrust of his popular general,
settled into a deadly malignity. He spoke plainly to his
more trusted servants, asking them to slay David. He
even broached the matter to his son Jonathan. This
loyal friend went at once to David with warning of hia
danger, and the two planned for Da>id's flight. But
meanwhile Jonathan faced hia father openly, rebuking
him with sternness, and reminding him of David's faith-
fulness and of his vast services to Israel. Once more
Saul's heart was touched with remorse, and he swore a
great oath, *'As the Lord livcUi, he shall not be slain."
^
FIRST KINGS IX — SOLOMON S GREATNESS 61ft
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children
of Israel,
21 Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the
children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those
did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.
22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen:
but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and hia
captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.
23 These were the chief of the. oflScers that were over Solomon's
work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that
wrought in the work.
24 Tf But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David
unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build
Millo.
25 t And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings
and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord,
and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord. So
he finished the house.
26 1 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber,
which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.
27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had
knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four
hundred and twenty talents, and brought U to king Solomon.
Ctiapter 10
1 The queen of Sheba admireth the toi^dom of Solomon. 14 Solomon*8 gold. 10 Hie tarpets, 18 The thron9
of ivory. 21 Hie veeeele. 24 His preeenie. 26 Hie dtariote and horeemen. 28 Hie triJbutie.
ND when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon
concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him
with hard questions.
2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels
that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when
she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was
in her heart.
3 And Solomon told her all her questions : there was not any thing
hid from the king, which he told her not.
4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom,
and the house that he had built,
5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and
the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers,
and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord;
there was no more spirit in her.
6 And she said to tne king. It was a true report that I heard in mine
own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
620 FIRST KINGS X — SOLOMON's WEALTH
7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes
had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and
prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.
8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand
continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set
thee on the throne of Israel : because the Lord Toved Israel for ever,
therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.
10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold,
and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no
more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba
gave to king Solomon.
11 And tne navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir,
brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees,* and precious
stones.
12 And the king ^lade of the almug trees pillars^ for the house of
the Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for
singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.
13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire,
whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal
bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her
servants.
14 ^ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year
was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, '
15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of
the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the gov-
ernors of the countrv.
16 ^ And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold:
six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.
17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound
of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of
the forest of Lebanon.
18 ^ Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and over-
laid it with the best gold.
19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round
behind: and there ivere stays on either side on the place of the seat,
and two lions stood beside the stays.
20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other
upon the six steps : there was not the like made in any kingdom.
21 ^ And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and
all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold ;
none were of silver : it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of
'These almue or algrum trees were probably sandal wood. *The word translated "pillar" means in
Hebrew a '*prop,*' '^support.*' But the precise meaning here is unloiown. *666 talents of gold would havB
a value of about twenty million dollars.
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BY THE CELEBEATED FEESCH O-I-rSTHATOB,
QU8TAVE OORE, DIED 1883.
"And Saul ttmght to »mite Dai'id even to the icalt witk
the ;oi«/tn."— /. Sam.. 19, 10.
NO PERUAXEXT peace betrreen Saul and David
was possible, thougb thev knew it not; for God
had wholly abandoned the one because of bis evil
heart, and had chosen the other to succeed to Israel's
throne. Yet another time the Wgorous Toung general
drew the attentioo of the entire country by bold eiploils
against the Philistines; and yet another time the king's
i^etter mood vas shaken by that "evil spirit from the
Lord."
David was playing on the harp for the king, as aforetime,
in the palace; and Saul rushed upon the musician with his
javelin seeking lo thrust him through, to pin him to the
wall. "But he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and
he smote the ja^'elin into the wall; and David fled, and
escaped that night." That was the final break between
the two men. Never again did "the sweet muddan"
seat himself with his harp in the presence of the crazed
and jealous king.
ii
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IHiIhII
FIRST KINGS X — THE HORSES OF EGYPT 621
Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing
gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches
and for wisdom.
24 ^ And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom,
which God had put in his heart.
25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and
vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and
mules, a rate year by year.
26 ^ And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen : and
he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand
horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the
king at Jerusalem.
27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and
cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the vale, for
abundance.
28 ^ And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen
yarn : the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price. ^
29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred
shekels of silver, and an horse for "an hundred and fifty : and so for all
the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring
them out by their means.
Chapter II
1 Solomon' i toives and concubines. 4 In his old age theu draw him to idolatry. 9 God threaieneth him. 14 Solo-
mon'a adversaries were Hadad, who was entertained in Egypt, 23 Rexon, who reigned in Damascus, 25 and Jero*
•^oom, to wham Ahijah prophesied. 41 Solomon's acts, reign, and death: Rehoboam succeedeth him.
|UT king Solomon loved many strange women, together with
the daughter of Pharaoh, women oi the Moabites, Ammon-
ites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
2 Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children
of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto
you : for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods : Solomon
clave unto these in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred
concubines : and his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned
awav his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with
the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,
and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not
fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abom-
iThe wofd InmaUted "linen yam" is altered in the Revised Version to "droves" meaning droves
lOf boCKS.
622 FIRST KINGS XI — SOLOMON*S IDOLATRY
ination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech,
the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt in-
cense and sacrificed unto their gods.
9 % And the Lord was angry \^ith Solomon, because his heart
was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto
him t\^ice,
10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should
not go after other gods; but he kept not that which the Lord com-
manded.
11 Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this
is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes,
which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from
thee, and \^dll give it to thy servant.
12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy
father's sake: bvi I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
13 How^beit I will not rend away all the kingdom; btU will give
one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's
sake which I have chosen.
»
14 If And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad
the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom.
15 For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the
captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten
every male in Edom;
16 (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until
he had cut off every male in Edom :)
17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's ser-
vants with him, to go into E^pt; Hadad being yet a little child.
18 And they arose out of 3lidian, and came to Paran: and they
took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto
Pharaoh king of Egypt; w^hich gave him an house, and appointed
him victuals, and gave nim land.
19 And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that
he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes
the queen.
20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom
Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house: and Genubath was in Pha-
raoh s household among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his
fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad
said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own
country.
22 Then Pharaoh said unto him. But what hast thou lacked with
me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And
he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.
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FROM THE BIBLICAL
BY OnSTAYE DOb£»
NOTED FOB THEIR DRAMATIC VIGOR.
4-
**So Miehal let David down through a window: and ks
went, andfled^ and etoaped,** — /. 8am^ 19^ 12.
SAD indeed was the sitoatioii thus estaUisIied in the
family of Saul. The young folk were bound to-
gether by the tenderest ties. Midud was David's
beloved wife; Jonathan not only his lMothe»n-law but his
very brother, his doaest, most loyal friend* another sdf .
Yet these three had either to submit to the savagery of
Saul or rebel against him. Saul's diildren loved their
father. David also gave him affection, honored him to
some extent, and held him in reverence as the "Lord's
anointed." How could David, who had himself been
anointed by the prophet Samuel, dedare that that scJemn
ceremony was of no effect, and lebd against Saul, whose
title to the kingship was {«ior and exactly similar to his
own?
When David fled from the mad king's presence, the
latter sent men to watdi his houaeand seise him. Miehal
learned of this; and, making hasty choice between duty
to her father and to her husband, she- warned David.
*'If thou save not thy life to-night, to-moRow thou shalt
be slain." Perhaps Uieir house stood upon the dty wall,
even as Rahab's had stood in Jericho in the days of Joshua;
for Miehal lowered her husband from a window by some
hastily arranged device, perchance of her own garments.
So David fled from Jerusalem.
iv-25
FIRST KINGS XI — ^AHIJAH's PROPHECY 623
23 If And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of
!Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah :
24 -And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a
band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus,
and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.
25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon,
beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and
reigned over Syria.
26 ^ And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda,
Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow
woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.
27 And this wa^ the cause that he lifted up his hand against the
king: Solomon built JVIillo, and repaired the oreaches of the city of
David his father.
28 And the man Jeroboam wa^ a mighty man of valour : and Solo-
mon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him
ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.
29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of
Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the
way; and he had clad nimself with a new garment; and they two
were alone in the field:
30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that wa^ on him, and rent
it in twelve pieces :
31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith
the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of
the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee :
32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and
for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes
of Israel :)
33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped
Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god ot the
Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have
not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eves, and to
Jceep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand:
but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my
servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandment
and iny statutes :
35 But I will take the kingdom out of his -son's hand, and will
give it unto thee, even ten tribes.
36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant
may have a Ught alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have
chosen me to put my name there.
37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reira according to all that
thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
624 FIRST KINGS XII — ^REHOBOAM's TYRANNY
38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command
thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to
keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did;
that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for
David, and will give Israel unto thee.
39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.
40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam
arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in
Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41 ^ And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and
his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon ?
42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel
was forty years.
43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city
of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
Cbapter 12
1 The Israelites^ assembled at Shediem to crown Rehoboam, by Jeroboam make a suit of relaxation unto him. 6 RAo'
bocan, refusing the old men's counsel, by the advice of young men, answereth them roughly. 16 Ten £ri6et revoliing,
kill Adoram, and make Rehoboam to flee. 21 Rehoboam, raising an army , is forbidden by Shemaiah. 25 Jeroboam-
ttrengtheneth himself by cities, 26 and by the idolatry of the tux) calves.
ND Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to
Shechem to make him king.
2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
who was yet in Egypt, heard of it^ (for he was fled from the presence
of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)
3 Tnat they sent and called him. And tleroboam and all the con-
gregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou
the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put
upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again
to me. And the people departed.
6 ^ And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood
before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said. How do ye
advise that I may answer this people ?
7 And they spake unto him, saying. If thou wilt be a servant unto
this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and
speak good w^ords to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given
him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with nim,
and which stood before him:
9 And he said unto them. What counsel give ye that we may answer
this people, who have spoken to me, saying. Make the yoke which thy
father did put upon us lighter ?
10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto
I- «.
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BY OmCAB ELLIGER THE YOUNGER, A DtTTCH ABTI8T,
NOTED 1T>B ma ABCHXTIBCIHJKAL SnLENPOB
OF DESIGN, DIED 17S2.
4-
*And when the messengers were eome in, behold^ there
woe an image in the hedy with a pillow <^ goafs hair for his
bolster:*— I. Sam., 19, 16.
LIKE tlie true-hearted wife aihe was, Michal, when
left alone after David's flight to shelter herself
from her father's wrath, did not think first of her
own danger. She wanted to secure her husband from
pursuit. So she made use of an "image," apparently a
lifesize figure of some god, the presence of which in Saul's
household hints stron^y at his waning faith in the Lord.
This image she arranged in David's bed; and, when Saul's
messengers came for her husband, she pointed to the
figure and told than David was too ill to go with them.
When they reported this to Saul, the fierce king bade
them drag the sick man to him on the bed, that he might
slay him with his own hand. When they came to do this,
the trick was discovered; but so much time had been
gained that David was safe.
Michal, being confronted by her angry father, escaped
his wrath by further deception. Though strong for those
she loved, she was not strong in truth for truth's own sake.
She pretended that she would have hindered David, but
that he had terrified her with threats. "He said unto me.
Let me go; why should I kill thee ?" So Michal remained
dwelling in favor with her father, a fact which afterward
brought her to much
!
iv-26
FIRST KINGS XII ISRAEL'S REBELLION 625
him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto
thee, saying. Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it
lighter unto us; tnus shalt thou say unto them. My little ^ngrer shall
be thicker than my father's loins.
11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke,
I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips,
but I will chastise you with scorpions.
12 ^ So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third
day, as the king had appointed, saying. Come to me again the third day.
13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the
old men's counsel mat they gave him;
14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying.
My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my
father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you witn
scorpions.
15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people: for the
cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying, which
the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilomte unto Jeroboam the son of
Nebat.
16 ^ So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them,
the people answered the king, saying. What portion have we in
David ? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents,
O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed
unto their tents.
17 But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of
Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute^;
and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king
Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was
come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation,
and made him king over all Israel : there was none that followed the
house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
21 ^ And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled
all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and
fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against
the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the
son of Solomon.
22 But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God,
saying,
23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah,
and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant
of the people, saying,
>For "tribute" the Revised Version substitutes "levy."
626 FIRST KINGS XII — ISRAEl's IDOLATRY
24 Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your
brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his nouse; for
this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word
of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the
Lord.
25 % Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and
dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart. Now shall the kingdom return
to the house of David :
27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at
Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their
lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and
go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of
gold, and said unto them. It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem :
ehold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt.
29 And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.
30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship
before the one, even unto Dan.
31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the
lowest of the people, which were not oi the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the
fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and
he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the
calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the
high places which he had made.
33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the
fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had
devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of
Israel: and he offered upon the altar and burnt incense.
Chapter 13
1 Jeroboam' 8 hand, that offered violence to him that prophesied aaainst hi^ altar at Beth-<i, wWurdh. t and at the-
prayer of the prophet is restored. 7 The prophet, refusing the king^s entertainmetU, departeth from BHh-el. 11 ilf»
old prophet, seducing him, bringeth him back. 20 He is reproved by God, 23 slain by a lion, 20 buried by the cid
prophet, 31 who confirmeth his prophecy. 33 Jeroboam's obstinacy.
ND, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the
word of the Lord unto Beth-el : and Jeroboam stood by the
altar to burn incense.
2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said>
O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto
the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the
Eriests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's
ones shall be burnt upon thee.
3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying. This is the sign which.
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**And he Hnpped off his dothes a2fo, and pmphe$ied
before Samud in like manner, and lay down naked all that
day and aU that nigktr—I. Sam., 19, 2^.
IN HIS despairing flight, David took refuge with the
andent prophet Samuel, who still lived and taught
his celebrated school at Ramah. To Samud, the
fugitive told of his perilous situation. The holy man
ai^iarently forbade him to rebd against Saul, urging him
to leave his own kingship to the hand of God, Who had
foie-ordained it So David remained with Samud; and
Saul, hearing this, sent sddiers to arrest his victim. But
the Spirit of God protected David. When the soldiers
reached Samud's school and saw the aged prophet at the
head of his followers, many of whom showed something
also of prophetic inspiration, then these rude soldiers
were themselves inspired. They prophesied with the
prophets, and went away.
Three times this happened. Then Saul, distrusting
further agents, came himself with grim resolution to
Eamah. But upon him also came the Spirit of God, so
that stripping off his kingly robes he fell prostrate in all
humility before Samud, and remained there for a whole
day, praying and prophesying. Strange marvd of his
mixed nature, tense for good or evil! "Wherefore they
say, Is Saul also among the prophets ?'*
That was the last meeting of die king and the prophet
who had once been so close allied. The holy
Samud must have died soon after.
IV- 27
I
FIRST KINGS XIII — ^JEROBOAM 's ALTAR RENT 627
the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes
that are upon it shall be poured out,
4 And it came to pass when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the
man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he
ut forth his hand from the altar, saying. Lay hold on him. And
is hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could
not pull it in again to him.
5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar,
according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word
of the Lord.
6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat
now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may
be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord,
and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was
Ijefore.
7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me,
and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
8 And the man of God said unto the king. If thou vn\i give me half
thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor
drink water in this place;
9 For so it w^as ctiarged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat
no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou
earnest.
10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he
came to Beth-el.
11 Tf Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons
came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that
day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them
they told also to their father.
12 And their father said unto them. What way went he ? For his
sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from
Judah.
13 And he said unto his sons. Saddle me the ass. So they saddled
him the ass: and he rode thereon,
14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under
an oak: and he said unto him. Art thou the man of God that camest
from Judah ? And he said, I am.
15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee:
neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
17 For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat
no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that
thou camest.
18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel
spake unto me by the word oi the Lord, saying, Bring him back
628 FIRST KINGS XIII — THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET
with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.
But he lied unto him.
19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and
drank water.
20 ^ And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word
of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:
21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, say-
ing. Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the
mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the
Lord thy God commanded thee,
22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the
place, of the which tlie Lord did say to thee. Eat no bread and drink
no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
23 ^ And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he
had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wity for the prophet
whom he had brought back.
24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew
him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it,
the lion also stood bv the carcase.
25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the
way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told
it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way
heard thereof ^ he said. It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto
the word of the Lord : therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto
the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word
of the Lord, which he spake unto him.
27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they
saddled him.
28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass
and the lion standing by the carcase : the lion had not eaten the carcase,
nor torn the ass.
29 And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and
laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came
to the city, to mourn and to bury him.
30 And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned
over him, saying ^ Alas, my brother!
31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to
his sons, saying. When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre
wherein the man of God is buried; lay mv bones beside his bones:
32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against
the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places which
are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
33 ^ After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way,
but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places:
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*'Then said Jonathan unh Davids Whatfoever thy mnd
denretht I vnU even do Ufor thee.** — I^ San., BO, 4*
IN THE extremity of his difficultjr, David flought to
find the cause of Saul's wrath against him. There-
fore he came seoetly to Jerusalem and appealed to the
faithful Jonathan. This nobk soul, loyal as ever to both
his father and his friend, found it imposnUe to bdieve
in his father's perfidy. He insisted that Saul's attadc on
David had been but an impulse of madness; that, since
Saul had spared David at Ramah, the danger vras at an
end; and that he, as the trusted scm ci his fttther, vnold
surely have been consulted had any further attack been
planned. David however could no longer encourage
himself with such vain hopes. "Truly as the Lord
liveth," he insisted vehemently, "and as thy soul liveth,
there is but a step between me and death."
Startled by this earnestness Jonathan renewed his
ancient pledges of devdtion to David; and between them
they arranged a plan for testing the matter definitdy and
forever. This might well be the friends' last meeting, so
Jonathan foreseeing the coming days of David's power
bade the latter swear ever to remember then* ancient
comradeship and to shelter and cherish the family of
Jonathan. Deeply touched, and doubtless prdoiuidly
encouraged by such faith in such an hour, David repeated
the promise, and the two parted with the vrords so often
used for binding friendship since, "The Lord be between
thee and me for ever."
iv-28
FIRST KINGS XIV — ^JEROBOAM^S DOOM 629
whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became cme of the
priests of the high places.
34 And this tning became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even
to cut it off, and to destroy it from ofiF the face of the earth.
Ciiapter 14
1 Abijah being tick, Jeroboam aendeih hU ivife dUffuiaed tmtk preeents to the prophet Ahijah at ShUoh. 5 Ahijah,
fcnwamed by God. denounceth God's judgment. 17 Abijah dieth, and ia buried. 19 Nadab succeedeth Jeroboam,
21 Bdkoboam'9 wicked reign, 25 Shiehak spoiieth Jerusalem. 29 Abijam succeedeih Rehoboam.
that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and
disguise thyself, that thou be not known to oe the wife of
Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet,
which told me that / should be king over this people.
3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of
honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.
4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and
came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes
were set bv reason of his age.
5 y^ And the Lord said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam
Cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son ; for he is sick : thus and thus
shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that
she shall feign herself to be another woinun.
6 And it was 50, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she
came in at the door^ that he said. Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam;
why feignest thou thyself to be another.^ for I am sent to thee with
heavy tidings.
7 Go; tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Foras-
much as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince
over my people Israel,
8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave
it thee: and yel thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept
my commanaments, and who followed me with all his heart, to ao
thai only which was right in mine eyes;
9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee : for thou hast
gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me
to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:
10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam,
and will cut oflF from Jeroboam every male, and him that is shut up
and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of
Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.
11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and
him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the Lord
hath spoken it.
12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when
thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.
630 FIRST KINGS XIV — ^REHOBOAM's WICKEDNESS
13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and buir him: for he only
of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found
some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of
Jeroboam.
14 Moreover the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel who
shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
15 For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water,
and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to
their fathers, and snail scatter them beyond the river, because they
have made their groves S provoking the Lord to anger,
16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam,
who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
17 T[ And Xeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to
Tirzali^: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child
died;
18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according
to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of his servant
Ahijah the prophet.
19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how
he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Israel.
20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty
years: and he slept with his fathers, and Jsadab his son reigned in his
stead.
21 ^ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Reho-
boam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did
choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And
his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and thev provoked
him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all
that their fathers had done.
23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves*,
on every high hill, and under every ^een tree.
24 And there were also sodomites in the land : and they did accord-
ing to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out
before the children of Israel.
25 ^ And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, thai
Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:
26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and
the treasures of the king^s house; he even took away all: and he took
away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
•
»For •• grovM" in this sense the Revised Version always reads " Asherim." denoting the wooden wmbolf
of a goddess, or sacred trees or poles. «Although Jeroboam built up Shechem and other dttes, Tireah. a city
of Ephralm. was the chief seat of Israel's government for several reigns, »The Revised Yereion says piUaa
and Asherim."
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BY J. JAMEB TI880T. REPBODUCED BT COUBTEST OF
THB AMEBICAN nSBOT SOdETT OF NEW TORK.
** Then SauTs cmger was kindled againH Jonathan^ and
he aaid to him^ Thou aan of the perverse rebeUioue wonum^
do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to
thine own confusion" — I. Sam.^ ^t SO.
IN PURSUANCE of the plan of the two friends, Dft>id
left Jerusalem. On the morrow there began a feast,
at which the king dined with his chieftains; and
some sort of reconciliation must have been previously
arranged at Ramah, for Saul expected David to sit with
him at the royal table. Not until the second day did the
king take open note of David's absence, and ask its cause.
Thereon Jonathan professed to have sent David <away;
for the friends had agreed that if Saul had no secret de-
sign, he would not object to this, whereas if he had intended
evil, he might betray himself. He did, indeed. His
sudden passion burst all bounds. He swore to slay Da\id
upon sight, declaring that otherwise the young intruder
would surely crowd both him and Jonathan from the
throne, and that Jonathan was blind to cherish such a
viper. Then turning his wrath upon his son, he heaped
on him such terms ' of insult that Jonathan rose in
righteous anger, and spoke nobly in defence of his friend.
At that &iul started up with his ready javelin and
hurled it even at this beloved son. Jonathan, deftlv
evading the blow, withdrew indignantly from his father's
presence, deep in sorrow as in anger. He knew now that
the reconciliation of Saul and David was impossible.
iv-29
M^^^H '
FIRST KINGS XV — THE KINGS OF JUDAH 631
27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and
committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept
the door of the king's house.
28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the Lord,
that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard-
chamber.
29 % Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did,
are thev not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their
days,
31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his
fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah
an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
Ciiapter 15
1 Abifam^s wicked reign. 7 Am nuxeeddh him. 9 Aaa'a good reign. 16 The war between Baaaha and him
€auaeih him to make a league with Ben-hadad. 23 Jehoehafiiai eucceedeth Am. 25 Nadah^e wicked reign. 27
Baatha eonepiring againet him executeth AhijcJi'a prophecy. 31 Nadab'a acta and death. 33 Baaaha'a wicked reign,
^SjSlOW in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
reigned Abijam over Judah.
2 Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom^
3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done
before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God,
as the heart of David his father.
4 Nevertheless for David's sake did the Lord his God give him
a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish
Jerusalem :
5 Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord,
and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the
days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the
days of his Ufe.
7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8 And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the
city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
9 f And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned
Asa over Judah.
10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his
mother's^ name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as
did David his father.
iThe word daughter is often used tn the Bible for female descendants, even of the third and later gener-
Ations. Just as here, In verse 3, father is used for great grandfather. 'In this verse mother presumably stands
'or grandmother.
632 FIRST KINGS XV — ^ASa's LEAGUE WITH STRIA
12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed
all the idols that his father had made.
13 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being
queen, because she had made an idol in a grove*; and Asa destroyed
her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
14 But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart
was perfect with the Lord all his days.
15 And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated,
and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the
Lord, silver, and gold, and vessels.
16 % And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel
all their davs.
17 And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built
Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king
of Judah.
18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the
treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's
house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king
Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion^
king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
19 There is a league between me and thee, and between my father
and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and
fold; come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that
e may depart from me.
20 So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains
of the host which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon,
and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the
land of Naphtali.
21 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof ^ that he left
off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
22 Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none
wa^ exempted : and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber
thereof, wnerewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them
Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his mi^ht, and all that
he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? iNevertheless in the time
of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
24 And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers
in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in
his stead.
25 ^ And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel
in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two
years.
nhe Revised Version reads ** because she had made an abominable image for an Asberah.**
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"And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him" —
J. Sam., 20, 36.
THERE still remained to Jonathan the duty of
warning his friend. Even as Saul's daughter
Michal had before sheltered David, so now Saul's
son stood between the king and his innocent victim.
Jonathan feared lest his every movement might be watched,
so in the morning he went out to an open field as though
to practise archery. With him was a boy to gather up
his arrows. After some time, satisfied that he was alone,
the archer shot a bolt with his full strength beyond a pile
of rocks at the extremity of the field. Then he called to
the boy **Is not the arrow beyond thee?"
This was a signal previously agreed on. David was
in hiding among those rocks, waiting, doubtless with
beating heart; and that signal told him that the king
planned his death. The two friends found opportunity
for a farewell word. Then the young hero departed into
exile.
The first period of his life was ended. To the days
of youth and merriment, of high honor in the king's em-
ploy and ever-rising glory throughout Israel, the days
of pride in his achievements, happiness with his young
wife, and cheerful confidence in all mankind, to those
days succeeded a tragic time of outlawry and loneliness,
of insult, misery, treacher}-, and craft.
iv-30
FIRST KINGS XV — THE KINGS OF ISRAEL 633
26 And he did evil in the si^ht of the Lord, and walked in the
way of his father, and in his sm wherewith he made Israel to sin.
27 ^ And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, con-
spired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gihbethon, which
belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to
Gibbethon.
28 Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay
him, and reigned in his stead.
29 And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the
house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until
he had destroyed him, according imto the sapng of the Lord, which
he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:
30 Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which
he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the
Lord God of Israel to ai^r.
31 ^ Now the rests of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
32 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all
their days.
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son
of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.
34 And he did evil in the sight of the LpRD, and walked in the way
of Jeroboam, and in his sin where\^dth he made Israel to sin.
Chapter 16
1, 7 JAu*e provhMy (Ufoind Baaaha, 6 Blah succeedeth him. 8 Zimri, conspiring oQaind Blah^ nuceedeth him,
11 Zimri 4ieemetti Jaiu^s pmhecy. 15 Omri^ made king by the soldiers^ forcdh zimri deaperateiy to hum him^
fdf. 21 the kingdom being divided, Omri nrevaileth againet Tibni. 23 Omri buUdeth Samaria. 25 Hie wicked
feign. 27 Ahab eueeeeddh him. 29 Ahab*e most tncked reign. 34 Joehua*9 curee upon Hid the builder of
Jericho.
HEN the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani
against Baasha, sapng,
2 Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made
thee prince over my people Israel ; and thou hast walked in the way
of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me
to anger with their sins;
3 Behold, I will take away the posteritv of Baasha, and the posterity
of his house; and will make thy house li^e the house of Jeroboam the
son of Nebat.
4 Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him
that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.
5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his
might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Israel ?
6 So Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah: and
£lah his son reigned in his stead.
7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani
634 FIRST KINGS XVI — ZIMRl's REBELLION
came the word of the Lord against Baasha, and against his house»
even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, in provoking
him to anger with the work- of his hands, in being like the house of
Jeroboam; and because he killed him.
8 ^ In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah
the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.
9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired
against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house
of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.
10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the
twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
11 ^ And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he
sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him
not one male, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.
12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to
the word of the Lord, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the
prophet,
13 For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by
which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking
the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
15 ^ In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did
Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped
against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.
16 And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath con-
spired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri,
ttie captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.
17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him,
and they besieged Tirzan.
18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken,
that he went into the palace of the king's house and burnt the king's
house over him with nre, and died,
19 For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the
Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he
did, to make Israel to sin.
20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he
wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel ?
21 ^ Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half
of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king;
and half followed Omri.
22 But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people
that followed Tibni the son of Ginath : so Tibni died, and Omri
reigned.
\n
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^oltWn i^taiorb
BT OTTMAB ELXJGEB, OF HOLLAND* DIED 1782.
" The sword of Goliathj (he PhilisHne, whom thou alew'
ett in the valley of Elah, heholdy it ie here^ . . . David
said there is none like thai; give it me,'* — I. 8am.^ 21^ 9,
THE outlaw life which David now began, called
forth new elements in his character. Humanly
speaking we can not blame with great severity
the shifts and falsehoods to which he resorted to escape
his enemies; but under pressure of his need he certainly
departed far. from sainthood and even frcHn that high motal
attitude which chooses suffering rather than deception.
His first effort was to secure food and weapons. Going
boldly to the religious sanctuary which lay in the nearby
town of Nob, and calling the highpriest secretly aside,
he pretended to have been sent by Saul on a sudden ex-
pedition and to need food for his followers. No food was
at hand except the sacred bread for the temple. This,
despite the priest's unwillingness, David took. He then
asked for a sword. This also was difficult to obtain, so
from its place behind the altar the priest gave him the
terrible blade of Goliath, which David had himself so
nobly captured, and had dedicated to Grod.
Thus armed and provisioned, the outlaw who had been
a prince, went on his way more confidently, yet still in
haste; for he had noted at the temple certain friends of
Saul, who had eyed him with more suspicion than the
unworldly priest; and he knew in his heart that the aid
now given him was sure to bring disaster upon the temple's
keepers.
iv-31
FIRST KINGS XVI — OMRI BUILDS SAMARIA 635
23 % In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began
Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years; six years reigned he in
Tirzah.
24 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents o'f
silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which
he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.
25 % But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse
than all that were before him/
26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord
God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might
that he shewed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Israel ?
28 So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria:
and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
29 T[ And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began
Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of
Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.
30 Ana Ahab the son of Omri did evil. in the sight of the Lord
above all that were before him.
31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to
walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife
Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went
and served Baal, and worshipped him.
32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which
he had built in Samaria.
33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the
Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were
before him.
34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the
foundation thereof in Abiram^ his first-born, and set up the gates
thereof in his voungest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord,
which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.
Chapter 17
1 Elijah, having prophesied againat Ahab, is sent to Cherith, tohere the ravens feed him. S Heis sent to the undow
of ZarephaUi. 17 He raiseih the vridow's son. 24 The woman bdierelh him.
O*^ ^M. ^B J:
D Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead,
said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before
whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years,
but according to my word.
2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, sapng,
iSee Ml. 6, 10. Omri appears to have established idolatry of a wicked kind. *The Revised Veisloa
MTi "with the loss of Ablram" and of Segub.
636 FIRST KINGS XVII — ELIJAH DWELI^ IN SECBET
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the
brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
. 4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have
commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord:
for he went and dwelt by the orook Cherith, that is before
Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the m9ming, and
bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, be-
cause there had been no rain in the land.
8 ^ And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, ^et thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell
there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain
thee.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to
the ^ate of the city, behold, the widow woman vxis there gathering
of sticks: and he called to her, and said. Fetch me, I pray thee, a
little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said.
Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
12 And she said. As the Ix)rd thy God liveth, I have not a cake,
but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and,
behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for
me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
13 And Elijah said unto her. Fear not; go and do as thou hast
said : but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me,
and after make for thee and for thy son.
14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall
not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the
Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
15 And she went and did according -to the sapng of Elijah: and
she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil
fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
17 1 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the
woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so
sore, that there was no breath left in liim.
18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou
man of God ? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance,
and to slay my son ?
19 And he said unto her. Give me thy son. And he took him out
of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and
laid liim upon his own bed.
20 And ne cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast
BT J. STEEPLE DAYI9, A CONTEUPOSAaT AMEBICAK
"And he changed hU behai'WT before them, and feigned
himtdf mad in their hand*." — I. Sam., St, IS,
HAVING equipped himaelf Tor the jouniey, David
departed out of the land of the Israelites, and
went to Gath the chief dty of the Philistines.
But if he had hoped to pass unnoticed there, he was mis-
taken. The Philistines recc^nized him at once as Isntel's
great general; they recalled to one another that song which
had already caused David such trouble, about hia slaying
his tea thousands as against Saul's thousands; and Ibey
dragged the hero joyously before their kiog Achish.
They did not r^ard David as a prisoner; their idea
was that since be had quarrelled with Saul and oome to
them, he would now fight upon their side. This of course
was wholly aside from David's intent. He only sought to
dwell somewhere in secrecy, until in God's own good time,
he should be called to his kingship. Hence he jweteoded
to be insane, he "scrabbled upon the doors of the gate,
and let his spittle fall down upon his beard." To an
oriental this is the lowest deep of degradation, so when
Achish gazed upon him, it was with contempt. "Have
I need of madmen," he asked, "that ye have brought
this fellow to play the madman in my presence?"
W
FIRST KINGS XVII — ELUAH REVEALS HIMSELF 637
thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by
slajdng her son ?
21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried
unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's
soul come into him again.
22 And the Lord neard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the
child came into him again, and he revived.
23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the
chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and
Elijah said. See, thy son liveth.
24 ^ And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that
thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth
is truth.
Chapter 18
brinifelh Ahab to Elijah,
prayer obtaining rain^
lln Oie extremity of famine Elijah^ eent to Ahab, meeteth good Obadiah, 9 Obadiah &n
17 Elijah, reproving Ahc^, by fire from heaven convinceth BaaTa prophete. 41 Elijah, by
foOoweth Ahqb to Jeered,
D it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord
came to Elijah in the third year, saying. Go, shew thyself
unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
2 And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And there was a
sore famine in Samaria.
3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house.
(Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly:
4 For it was 50, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord»
that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hia them by fifty in a
cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all foun-
tains of water, and unto all brooks: perad venture we may find grass
to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.
6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it:
Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by
himself.
7 \ And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and
he knew him, and fell on his face, and said. Art thou that my lord
Elijah ?^
8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord. Behold, Elijah
is here.
9 And he said. What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy
servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me ?
10 As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom,
whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said. He
is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that th^
found thee not.
I" Is it tbou, my lord Elijah?" in the Revised Version.
638 FIRST I$:iNGS XVIII — ELIJAH CHALLENGES BAAL
11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that
the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so
when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay
me: but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.
13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the
prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord's
prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
14 And now thou sayest. Go, tell thy lord. Behold, Elijah is here:
and he shall slav me.
15 And Elijah said. As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I
stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to-day.
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went
to meet Elijah.
17 ^ Ana it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said
unto him. Art thou he that troubleth Isreal ?
18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and
thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of
the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.
19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount
Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the
prophets of the groves* four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.
20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the
prophets together unto mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said. How long halt
ye between two opinions ? if the Lord be God, follow him r but if
loaal, then follow nim. And the people answered him not a word.
22 Then said Elijah unto the people, 1, even I only, remain a
prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty
men.
23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose
one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on woo<i,
and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it
on wood, and put no fire under:
24 And call ye on the name of vour gods, and I will call on the
name of the Lord: and the God tliat answereth by fire, let him be
God. And all the people answered and said. It is well spoken.
25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one
bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on
the name or your gods, but put no fire under.
26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and thev
dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until
noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that
answered. And they leaped upon^ the altar which was made.
lAsherah. The Revbed Version says "about the altar.
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BY HIPPOLTTE LALAIS8E, A RECENT FRENCH ARTIST.
**And he said wUo the king of 3foab, Let my father and
my mother, I pray thee, com^ forth, and be wUh you.** —
/. Sam., 22, 3.
UNABLE to continue among the Philistines except
in such shame as he would not endure, David
returned among his countrymen and hid hftnself
amid the wild mountains and rocky caves of Judah.
Gradually there gathered around tlie celebrated outlaw
a band of hardy warriors, fugitives like himself from the
tyranny of Saul. Most noted of these recruits were
David's own three nephews, sons of an older sister, the
chief of the three being Joab, who became David's head
general, well-nigh as powerful in the land as the king
himself. All of Da\nd's family fled to him, even his
aged father and mother; for who could tell when or where
the fury of Saul's mad vengeance might break forth.
Feeling the hard life of the wilderness to be unfit for
his aged parents, David determined to secure them a more
sheltered lot. With all his band he journeyed beyond
the Dead Sea to the land of Moab, the birthplace of Ruth,
who had been his father's mother. In this half-desert
r^ion, the outlaw band were gladly welcomed, the more
readily perhaps because Saul had warred against Moab.
The king or rather the chief "sheik" of the region readily
promised to give shelter to David's parents. The hero
himself, however, soon returned with his band to the
mountains of Judah, in obedience to the prophet Gad,
who commanded the outlaws to serve their
country by protecting its southern border.
iv-33
FIRST KINGS XVIII — THE FIRE FROM HEAVEN 639
27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and
said, CiT aloud : for he t^ a god ; either he is talking, or he is pursuing,
or he is m a journey, or peraaventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner
with knives and lancets,* till the blood gushed out upon them.
29 And it came to pass, when mid-day was past, and they proph-
esied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that
tJiCTe was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any tnat regarded.
30 And Elijah said unto all the people. Come near unto me. And
all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the
Lord that wa^ broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the
tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came,
saying, Israel shall be thy name:
32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord;
and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two
measures of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces,
and laid him on the wood, and said. Fill four barrels with water, and
pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
34 And he said. Do it the second time. And they did it the second
time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third
time.
35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the
trench also with water.
36 And it came to pass at the tim£ of the offering of the evening
sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said. Lord God of
Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art
God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that 1 have done all
these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that
thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back
again.
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice,
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water
that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw if, thev fell on their faces: and
they said. The Lord, he is the God; the fx)RD, he is the God.
40 And Elijah said unto them. Take the prophets of Baal; let not
one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them
down to the brooK Kishon, and slew them there.
41 ^ And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for
^here is a sound of abundance of rain.
42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up
^Or "swords and lances."
640 FIRST KINGS XIX-^ELUAH IX THE WILDERNESS
CO the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth» and
put his face between his knees,
43 And said to his servant. Go up now, look toward the sea. And
he went up, and looked, and said. There is nothing. And he said.
Go again seven times.
44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said. Behold,
there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And
he said. Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot^ and get thee
down, that the rain stop thee not.
45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was
black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab
rode, and went to JezreeL
46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah: and he girded up his
loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of JezreeL
Cbapter 1 9
1 Elijah, ihreaiened by Jetebd, fledh to Bur-thiha. A In the uUdtmest, being veary of his life, he it eomfarUi
by an angel. 9 At Horeb God appeardh unto him, sending him to anoint Hazadt Jdiu, and EHeha. 19 EluhOt
toting leave of hie friends, foUowdh Elijah.
ND Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal
how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying. So
the gods do to 7/ie, and more also, it I make not thy Ufe as the life
of one of them by to-morrow about this time.
3 And when he saw tJiaty he arose, and went for his Ufe, and
came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant
there.
4 ^ But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and
came and sat down under a juniper-tree: and he requested for himself
that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away
my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper-tree, behold, then an
angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals,
and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and
laid him down again.
7 And the an^el of the I^ord came again the second time, and
touched him, and said. Arise and eat: because the journey is too great
for thee.
8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength
of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of
God.
9 ^ And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, be-
hold, the word of the Lord caine to him, and he said unto him. What
doest thou here, Elijah?
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BY GEBHABD HOET, THE LEADER OF ABT IN HOLLAND
IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
**And Nob^ ike city of the prieeU^ snude he with the edge
of the swords both men and women^ children and suckUnge,
and oaeen^ and aeeee^ and eheept with the edge of the eword.**
—I. iSain.. jft?, 19.
THEN came that teiriUe deed of Saul which broke
the hist link between him and the affections of
his people, between him and God. Learning
how the highpriest Ahimelech had aided David's flight,
Saul went up to Nob with a band of soldiers and accused
Ahimelech of treason. The priest defended himself
with dignity and simple truth. He had known naught
of Saul's secret purposes; David was the king's general
and son>in-law; why should not the priests obey his call
for food and arms ?
But Saul's fury would not bend to reason, he insisted
that all the priests were traitors to him and were aiding
David; and he bade his soldiers slay them all.
The soldien held back in honor and amaze, from the
slaughter of so many holy men; they even refused flatly
to obey their king. Among them, however, was one man,
a foreigner from Edom, named Doeg, the king's chief
herdsman. He was one of those who had seen David
secure his sword from the temple, and it was he who had
told of the matter to Saul. This Edomite, this rude and
brutal herdsman, had no religious scruples. Knowing
his character, the king called specially on him, and Doeg
'fdl upon the priests, and slew on that day
fourscore and five persons that did
wear a linen ephod.'
iv-34
FIRST KINGS XIX — ELIJAH SEES GOD 641
10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of
hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown
down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even
I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the
Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong
wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the
Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an
earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the I^ord was not in the
&e: and after the fire a still small voice.*
13 And it was 50, when Elijah heard t<, that he wrapped his face
in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the enterii^ in of the cave.
And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou
here, Elijah?
14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of
hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant,
thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword ; and
I, even I only, am left; and they seek my hfe, to take it away.
15 And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the
wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be
king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over
Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou
anoint to be prophet in thy room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of
Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of
Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left me^ seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which
have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed
him.
19 Tf So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat,
who wa^ plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with
the twelftn: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon
him.
20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said. Let me,
I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, sind then I will follow
thee. And he said unto him. Go back again: for what have I done
to thee ?^
21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and
slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen,
and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and
went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
>A literal translation of the Hebrew would be "a gound of gentle stillness " or '*of a low whisper.'*
*The Revised Version alters this to the future tense. > Meaning, I have done nothing to forbid the farewell.
642 FIRST KINGS XX — ^AHAB WARS WITH STRIA
Cfiopter 20
1 Beiv-hadad, nU content unth Ahab^a homaae, buiegeth Samaria. 13 By ike direction of a prophet, (he Syriar»
are riain. 22 As the prophet foretpamed Anab, the Surian*, trueting in the valteyg, come Ojoainet him in Aphek.
28 By the word of the prophet, and God'» judgment, the ^^yriana are emitten again. 31 The Surian* mbmittin^
themselves, Ahab sendetk Hnx-hadad awiy vrith a covenant. 35 The prophet, under the parable of a prisoner^
making Ahab to judge himself, denounceth God's judgment against him.
ND Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together:
and there were thirty and two kings with him, and norses^
and chariots: and he went up ana besieged Samaria, and
warred against it.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and
said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad,
3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children,.
even the goodliest are mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered and said. My lord, O king,,
according to thy saying, 1 am thine, and all that I have.
5 And the messengers came again, and said. Thus speaketh Ben-
hadad, saying. Although I have sent unto thee, saying. Thou shalt
deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
6 Yet 1 wdll send my servante unto thee to-morrow about this time»
and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants;
and it shall be, thai whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall
put it in their hand, and take it away.
7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said^
ISIark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent
unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and
for mv ffold; and I denied him not.
8 And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken
not unto him, nor consent.
9 Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my
lord the king. All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first
I will do : but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed^
and brought him word again.
10 And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said. The gods do so unto
me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for
all the people that follow me.
1 1 And the king of Israel answered and said. Tell feim. Let not
him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth
it of!.
12 And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he
was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his
servants. Set yourselves in array. And they set themiselves in array
against the city.^
13 ^ And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel,
saying. Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude ?
>Thi8 pasnge may mean either that they set themselves or their engines of war against tlie dty.
• .
^Iie Sxitvdu^ %aA ^Porting
BT WILHELM EBBINORA17S, A GERMAN ABTIST OF
THE EIGHTEENTH CEMTUBT.
**Fear noi;for the hand of Saul my father shall not find
thee; and thou shaU be king over lerad^ and I shall he next
wUo thee:*—!. Sam,, 23, 17.
FROM the dread massacre of the priesia, only ooe
of them escaped. This was Ablathar* who fled
to David and became his chief priest Then Saul,
learning through spies that David was guarding a certain
city of the southland, gathered an armj to go and capture
him. David and his band took shelter once more among
the mountains. "And Saul sought him every day, but God
delivered him not into his hands."
The pursuit resulted in the last meeting of David with
Jonathan, who accompanied his father. Though Saul
could not find David, Jonathan did, and went to hkn in a
secret wood. Pathetic indeed was the final parting of
these two most faithful friends. Jonathan had come
for a special purpose. With saddest insight he foresaw
whither his father's mad career was tending, and he
guessed what the future might bring forth to David.
. His own natural ambitions were laid aside for his country's
good, and he sought only to encourage and strengthen
his friend in this hour of the latter*s dire need. So he
assumed to prophesy, assuring David that he would
escape Saul's pursuit and come to be king, "and that also
Saul my father knoweth." Only Jonathan had no real
prophetic vision, for he looked forward to h^py days of
comradeship with his friend, and thought not
of his own death, which was to
befaU with Saul's.
iv-35
FIRST KINGS XX — SYRIA DEFEATED 043
behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thoushalt know
that I am the Lord.
14 And Ahab said. By whom ? And he said. Thus saith the Lord,
Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he
said. Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.
15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces,
and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he num-
bered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven
thousand.
16 And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking
himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two
kings that helped him.
17 And the youn^ men of the princes of the provinces went out
first; and Ben-hadaa sent out, ana they told him, saying. There are
men come out of Samaria.
18 And he said. Whether they be come out for peace, take them
alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.
19 So these younff men of the princes of the provinces came out of
the city, and tL amy which followed them. ^
20 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and
Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on
an horse vAih. the horsemen.
21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and
chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 ^ And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto
him. Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for
at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him. Their gods
are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let
us nght against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger
than they.
24 And do this thing. Take the kings away, every man out of his
place, and put captains in their rooms:
25 And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost,
horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against
them in the plain, and, surely we shall be stronger than they. And
he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad
numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present,
and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before
them like two little flocks of kids: but the Syrians filled the country.
28 ^ And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of
Israel, and said. Thus saith the Lord, Because the Svrians have said.
The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of tte valleys, there-
644 FIRST KINGS XX AHAB's TRIUMPH
fore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye
shall know that I am the Lord.
29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And
so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and tbc^
children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen
in one day.
30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell
upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And
Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
31 ^ And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard
that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings : let us, I pray
thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go
out to the king of Israel : perad venture he will save thy life.
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and mU ropes on their
heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Tl^ servant Ben-
hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said. Is he yet alive ?
he is my brother.
33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would
come from him, and did hastilv catch it: and they said. Thy brother
Ben-hadad. Then he said, do ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad
came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the
chariot.
34 And Ben-hadad said unto him. The cities, which my father took
from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee
in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab^ I
will send thee away vnth this covenant. So he made a covenant with
him, and sent him away.
35 ^ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his
neighbour in the word of the Lord, Smite me, 1 pray thee. And the
man refused to smite him.
36 Then said he unto him. Because thou hast not obeyed the voice
of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion
shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion
found him, and slew him.
37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee.
And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded htm.
38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way,
and disguisea himself \^ith ashes upon his face^
39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said.
Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, oehold, a man
turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said. Keep this man:
if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or
else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And
The Revifled Version says ** with his headband over his eyes.**
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BT JUUUB 8CHNORR VON CABOUBFELD, DIED 1878
AT DRESDEN.
+
'*And Saul went in to cover his feet; cmd David and kis
men remained in the eidea of the oave,^* — I. iSam., f^^ S.
SO CLOSE and keen was Saul's piusuit of David
that at one time when David and his men wete in
the wilderness of Engedi, by the Dead Sea, the king
entered the very cave wherein the outlaws crouched in
hiding. The dim place seemed empty, and Saul, being
aweary, left his troops outside, set a guard at the entrance,
and laid himself to sleep within the cave, in fancied security.
Such astonishing good fortune seemed a mirade to the
men who had cowered there in the gloom expecting every
moment to be discovered. They whispered to their chief
that God had surely done this thing. "Behold the day
of which the Lord said unto thee. Behold, I will deliver
thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him
,as it shall seem good unto thee/' Their thought was that
David would slay Saul; and perhaps the temptation was
indeed upon him. If so he mastered it. Not by such
bloody means would he ascend the throne, but would
await God*s own time. When his astounded followers
would have themselves slain Saul for him, David held them
back. A vivid pantomime must have' been enacted in the
silence and semi-darkness, until "Saul rose up out of the
cave and went on hb way."
^
iv-^
FIBST KINGS XXI — ^NABOTH^S VINEYARD 645
the king of Israel said unto him. So shaU thy judgment be; thyself
hast decided it.
41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the
king of Israel discerned him that he was of tne prophets.
42 And he said unto them. Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast
let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction,
therefore thy Ufe shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
43 And the king of Israel went to his house neavy and displeased,
and came to Samaria.
Chapter 21
1 Akab being denied NaMh*a vineyard ia grieved. 5 JeMtSML voriHng lettera offoinet Naboth, he is condemned cf
I AMO oeaig aentea i^aooui'a vtneyara %e artevea. d jeeeoei writing leaere agaxna Naooui, he ia conaemnea cf
hlaaphemy, 15 Ahab ioMh poaaeaaUm of the vinevard. 17 Elijah denounceih judgmenia againat Ahab and
JetebcL 26 Wicked Ahab repenling, Ood deferreth Uie judgment.
ND it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite
had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of
Ahab king of Samaria.
2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying. Give me thy vineyard,
that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto mv
house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or^ if it
seem good to thee, 1 will give thee the worth of it in money.
3 KnA Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should
give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because
of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him : for he
had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And
he laid him down upoii his bed, and turned away his face, and would
eat no bread.
5 Tf But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him. Why
is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread ?
6 And he said unto her. Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite,
and said unto him. Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it
please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I
will not give thee my vineyard.
7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the
kingdom of Israel ? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry :
1 will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his
seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were
in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
9 And she wrote in the letters, saying. Proclaim a fast, and set
Naboth on high among the people:
10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness
against him, sa3dngf Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And
wim carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.
11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who
646 FIRST KINGS XXI — THE CURSE ON AHAB AND JEZEBEL
were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them,
and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.
12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the
people.
13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before
him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Na-
both, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme
God and the King* Then they carried fdm forth out of the city, and
stoned him with stones, that he died.
14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
15 ^ And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was
stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession
of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give
thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
16 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead,
that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
to take possession of it.
17 Tf And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria:
behold, ^ 1^ in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to
possess it.
19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying. Thus saith the Lord,
Hast thou killed, and also taken possession ? And thou shalt speak
unto him, saying. Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs
licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy ?
And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thvself
to work evil in the sight of the Lord.
21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy
posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male, and him that is
shut up and left in Israel,
22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son
of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the
Jirovocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made
srael to sin.
23 And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying. The dogs shall
eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him
that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.
25 Tf But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself
to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife
stirred up.
26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to
all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the
children of Israel.
r '
r I
tE^e Proof of iHertp
BT CHRISTOPHER RODE, A GERMAN ARTIST OF THE
EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY.
+
^^Moreover^ my father, gee, yea^ see the skirt cf iky robe
in my hand" — /. Sam., 21^ 11,
WHILE ^paring Saul when the king was at hia
mercy within the cave» David had at the same
time seen, with his usual quidc wit, a way of
turning the adventure to account. He had therefore
*'cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.'* When Saul left
the cave David followed, and called after him, having
doubtless arranged some safe way of retreat in case of
attack. When the king turned at David's call, the latter
besought mercy and told how he had spared the king»
holding up the piece of the robe as proof.
Saul's better nature, ever ready to respond to noble
impulses, came back to him for the moment He w^t
and called David son, even as David had called him
father. *'And he said to David, Thou art more righteous
than I; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have
rewarded thee evil. . . . And now, behold, I know
well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom
of Israel shall be established in thine hand.'*
So Saul drew off his army and returned to Jeruaalem;
but David went not with him, but remained with the out-
law band. I'he fugitive had learned from sad experience
how suddenly the king's shattered mind might change.
iv-37
FIRST KINGS XXII — THE LEAGUE OP ISRAEL AND JUDAH 647
27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he
/ent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and
lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me ? because he
humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days : but
in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.
Ciiapter 22
1 Ahab, teduced hyftUse prophets, according to the word of Micaiah, is slain at Ramoth-ffUead. 37 Ttie dogs lick
up his blood, and Ahasiah succeedeth him. 41 Jehoshaphat's good reign. 45 His acts. 50 Jehoram suceeedetk
him. 51 Ahaxi^'s evU reign.
ND they continued three years without war between Syria and
Israel.
2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat
the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.^
3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants. Know "ye that
Ramoth in Gileaa is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the
hand of the kin^ of Syria ?
4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle
to Ramoth-gilead ? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I
am as thou arty my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
5 And Jehoshapnat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray
thee, at the word of the Lord to-day.
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about
four hundred men, and said unto them. Shall I go agamst Ramoth-
E'lead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said. Go up; for the
ORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
7 And Jehoshaphat said. Is there not here a prophet of the Lord
besides, that we might inquire of him ?
8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one
man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the
Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning
me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said. Let not the king say so.
9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said. Hasten hither
Macaiah the son of Imlah.
10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat
each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the
entrance to the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied
before them.
11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron:
and he said. Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the
Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying. Go up to Ramoth-
Uehoshaphat's son wedded Ahab's daughter, thus forming an alliance between the two kingly famitles.
See II. Kings. 9. 18.
648 FIRST KINGS XXII — ^AHAB TEMPTED
filead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver U into the king's
and.
13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto
him, saying. Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto
the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word
of one of them and speak that which is good.
14 And iVIicaiah said. As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith
unto me, that will I speak.
15 ^ So he came to tne king. And the king said unto him, IVIicaiah,
shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?
And he answered him. Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver
it into the hand of the king.
16 And the king said unto him. How many times shall I adjure
thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of
the Lord ?
17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep
that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said. These have no master:
let them return every man to his house in peace.
18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell
thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil ?
19 And he said. Hear thou therefore the word of the Ix)Rd: I saw
the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing
by him on his nght hand and on his left.
20 And the Lord said. Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may
go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner,
and another said on that manner.
21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and
said, I will persuade him.
22 And the Lord said unto him. Wherewith ? And he said, I will
go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.
And he said. Thou shalt persuade him^ and prevail also: go lorth, '
and do so.
23 Now therefore, behold, the Ix)rd hath put a lying spirit in the
mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil con-
cerning thee.
24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote
Micaiah on the cheek, and said. Which way went the Spirit of the
Lord from me to speak unto thee ?
25 And Micaiah said. Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when
thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
26 And tne king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back
unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the Icing's son;
27 And say. Thus saith the king, rut this felloio in the prison, and
feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until
I come in peace.
II
I
i
fiiSui
FROM THE ANCIENT " NETHERLANDS " BIBLE.
"And Nabal answered David's servants and said^ Who
is Dairidf and wlw is the son of Jesse? there be many
servants nowadays that break atoay ex^ery man from his
master** — /. Sam,, 25, 10.
IT WAS at this period that the aged prophet Samuel
died; and David, dreading the king even more now
that Samuers protecting influence was gone* with-
drew yet farther southward with his band, and dwelt on
the borders of the desert. Here he came in angry con-
tact with the chief man of the district, named Nabal.
David by protecting all the r^on from the raids of the
desert tribes added much to its prosperity; hence he felt
justified in calling on the people to furnish supplies for
his band. When the season of sheepshearing came, he
sent ten of his "young men" to Nabal, sa}ing, "Give, I
pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand unto thy ser-
vants, and to thy son David."
But Nabal was "churlish and evil in his doings." His
name means, in Hebrew, a fool; and his answer was like
his name. Not only did he refuse the gift, but as if wholly
forgetting the might of David's band, he "railed on them,"
answering the message with so much of contempt and
insult, that when the messengers returned to David the
young leader vowed to slay Nabal and all his household.
This, David may have intended as a warning to the people
of the entire r^ion that they must respect
him, and obey the mandates of
his messengers.
^^
iv-38
FIRST KINGS XXII — ^AHAB's DEATH 64&
28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath
not spoken by me. And he said. Hearken, O people, every one of you.
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went
up to Ramoth-guead.
30 And the kin^ of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise
myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And
the long of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains
that had rule over his chariots, saying. Fight neither with small nor
great, save only with the king of Israel.
32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw
Jehoshaphat, that they said. Surely it is the kinff of Israel. And
they turned aside to nght against him: and Jehosnaphat cried out.
33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived
that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pur-
suing him.
34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the
king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said
unto the driver of his chariot. Turn thine hand, and carry me out of
the host; for I am wounded.
35 And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed
up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood
ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.
36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the
goii^ down of the sun, saying. Every man to his city, and every man
to his own country.
37 ^ So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they
buried the king in Samaria.
38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the
dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; ax^cording
unto the word of the Lord which he spake.
39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the
ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned
in his stead.
41 ^ And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah
in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat wa^ thirty and five years old when he began to
reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name wa^ Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not
aside from it, doing that which wa^ right in the eyes of the Lord:
nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people
offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.
650
FIKST KINGS XXII — ^JEHOSHAPHAT S SPI^NDOB
44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that
he shewed, and how he warred, are they not written in the hook of
the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days
of his father Asa, he took out of the land.
47 There was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king.
48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold:
but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.
49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my
servants go With thy sen-ants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would
not.
50 1[ And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with
his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned
in his stead.
51 If Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria
the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two
years over Israel.
52 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the
way of bis father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of
Jeroboam the son of Xebat, who made Israel to sin:
53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to
anger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had
done.
9iitgatl ditteatiK 0Uttp
AFTER PETER PAUL RUBENS, THE GREAT FLE&OSH
MASTER, DIED 1640.
+
**So David received of her hand that which she had
brought him^ and said unto her. Go up in peace to thine
hause:"^I. Sam., 25, 35.
FORTUNATELY for the household of Nabal, he
had a wife, Abigail, as wise and tactful as her
husband was short-sighted and suriy. The ser-
vants of Nabai, astonished at his treatment of Dayid'a
messengers, and well foreseeing the danger of vengeance
from the powerful outlaw, hastened to tell their mistren
of what had passed. Doubtless she had many a time
before been called' upon to rectify her husband's blunder-
ing. Moreover she was assured by the servants that
David's people had done them great good and dealt always
kindly with them. So she resolved to go herself to the
outlaws. She gathered store of provisions and packed
them upon asses, **two hundred loaves," with wine,
raisins, figs, sheep and com.
As David, hot with wrath, came striding down from
the wild hills, leading four hundred angry followers, he
met this little cavalcade. ''And when Abigail saw David,
she hasted, and lighted ofiF the ass, and fell before David
on her face." Wisely and gently did she plead for mercy,
offering her gifts, pointing out the innocence of herself
and her household, speaking of her husband with punning
scorn, ''Nabal is his name, and folly is with him." She
reminded David of his high destiny, and suggested the
regret with which as king he would look back
upon a needless deed of blood.
iv-39
introbttctton to tfie fteconb iBook of Hings;
The sources of the Second Book of Kings are the same as those of the First Book. Its
general purpose is also the same. Only, as it tells of the latter part of the period of decay^
its entire tone is sadder, its story grimmer.
It opens with rebellion and death. Then Elijah is translated to heaven in a chariot
of fire, and his disciple Elisha is for a time the central %ure. Then through one evil deed
to another the story of the northern kingdom sweeps on to the tremendous invasion of the
Assyrians and the complete extinction of the kingdom. The ten northern tribes are carried
away as prisoners into Assyria and disappear forever out of history. For this event an
exact date can be given; it occurred in 722 B. C.
Judah, the southern kingdom, maintained a precarious existence for more than another
oentiuy. It underwent a partial religious reform under King Hezekiah, and then a second
and very thorough one under King Josiah. But Josiah was slain by the Egyptian con«
queror, Necho, in the battle at Megiddo, and his three sons and his grandson eaoh after a
short and evil reign fell a victim either to the Egyptians or the Babylonians. The first
captivity took place in 597 B. C, when King Jehoiachin together with the aristocracy were
carried into exile to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar. The final catastrophe came in 586 B.C.
when, after a terrible siege, Jerusalem was stormed and burned to the ground by a Babylonian
general, and King Zedekiah with most of the people were driven as captives to Babylon.
This was the "great" or Babylonian captivity.
The miserable remnant left in Judah fled to Egypt after rebelling against and destroy-
ing the Babylonian governor, Gedaliah.
The book ends with a little ray of light, telling of the kind treatment of Jehoiachin by
the Babylonian King Evil-merodach. But the morning of the return of the Jews to their
homeland had not yet dawned when the author laid down his pen.
THE SECOND BOOK OP THE
CXIMMOSLY CALLED, THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE
Cbapter I
JfooA reWWA. S Ahatiah, lending to Baal-ielH^. hnth hit fudayant fcv Eliioh. fi Eriin\ tvicr brlngtlk
upon than iriiom AUatiaA Inl to apvrdund Jlim, 13 He latitlX U< Ihad caplair '
MitA Uu king C •■■■■'—"■ ■- ■-' -"-■■ -■— -■
^HEN Moab rebelled against Israel after the
(li'jith of Ahab.
'i And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice
ill his upper chamber that was in Samaria,
aii<l was sick: and he sent messengers, and
said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub
the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of
I this disease.
3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah
the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the mes-
sengers of the king of Samaria, and saj unto
them. Is U not because there is not a God in
Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the
god of Ekron P
4 Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down
from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And
Elijah departed.
5 ^ And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto
them. Why are ye now turned back ?
6 And they said unto him. There came a man up to meet us, and
said unto us. Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say
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BT PET'ER DE JODE, A FLEIOBH 1CA8TEH OF THB
BIXTEENTH CENTUBT.
+
^Beheld, let ihine handmaid he a eervant to toaeh the
feet of the servants of my lord,*' — L Sam.^ 25^ 41,
SO DAVID spared Nabal for his fair wife's sake; and
when Nabal, recovering from a drunken carouse,
learned of the danger which had threatened him,
he fell into such a terror that he died. After that, David»
in his lonely strou^old in the wilderness, thought much
of the wise and fair young widow. It was not unusual
in those days that a man, especially a chieftain, should
have several wives, and though we may feel that David
had too lightly forgotten the bride of his youth, the brave
daughter of Saul who had dared so much for him, yet
he knew that she was no longer awaiting his return. Her
father had rewedded her to another suitor.
Thus it came that David sent messengers to Abigail
entreating her to become his wife, or rather, commanding
her in right royal fashion: *' David sent us unto thee, to
take thee to him to wife." Her consent was humble and
gentle as ever. Perchance she dreamed of some high
destiny by the hero's side; perhaps she saw only the fair
face, flashing blue eyes, and stalwart towering form of
the man, as she had watched his changing face in their
one interview. She *' hasted, and arose, and rode upon
an ass with five damseb of hers that went after her . • •
and became his wife*'
iv-40
SECOND KINGS I ELIJAH REPROVES AHAZIAH 653
unto him. Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is not a God
in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron ?
therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou
art gone up, but shalt surely die.
7 And he said unto them. What manner of man was he w^hich came
up to meet you, and told you these words ?
8 And they answered him, He wa^ an hairy man,^ and girt with
a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the
Tishbite.
9 Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty.
And he went up to him : and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And
he spake unto him. Thou man of God, the king hath said. Come down.
10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I 6e a
man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee
and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed
him and his fifty.
11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his
fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus
hath the king said. Come down quickly.
12 And Elijah answered and said unto them. If I be a man of God,
let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thjr fifty.
And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and
his fifhr.
13 Tl And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty.
And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees
before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God,
I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be
precious in thy sight.
14 Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the
two captains of the former fifties with their fifties : therefore let my life
now be precious in thv sight.
15 And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, Go down with him:
be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto
the king.
16 And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as
thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron,
i^ it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word ?
therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art
gone up, but shalt surely die.
17 YSo he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah
had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead, in the second year
of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had
^0 son.^
That la "a man with a garment of hair.** «ThIs Jehoram of Israel was a younger son of Ahab and hence
> brother to Ahaziah. See chapter 3, 1.
654 SECOND KINGS II ELUAH CARRIED TO HEAVEN
18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
Chapter 2
inq le
untDhoUiume toaters, 23 Bear« dettroy the children thai modced Elitha.
||ND it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah
into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha
from Gilgal.
2 And Ehjah said unto Elisha, Tarry. here, I pray thee: for the
Lord hath sent me to Beth-el. And Elisha said unto him. As the
Lord hveth, and as thy soul hveth, I will not leave thee. So they
went down to Beth-el.
S And the sons of the prophets* that were at Beth-el came forth
to Elisha, and §aid unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take
away thy master from thy head to-day ? And he said. Yea, I know
it; hold ye your peace.
4 And Elijah said unto him, EUsha, tarry here, I pray thee; for
the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, ^1^ the Ix)rd liveth,
and (W thy soul liveth, I vdW not leave thee. So they came to
Jericho.
5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha,
and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take awav thv
master from thy head to-day? And he answered. Yea, I know it;
hold ye your peace.
6 And Elijah said unto him. Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord
hath sent me to Jordan. And he said. As the Lord liveth, and as
thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.
7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to
view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.
8 And Elijah took his mantle, and \iTapped it together, and smote
the waters, ayid they were divided hither and thither, so that they
two went over on dry ground.
9 ^ And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah
said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken
away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion
of thy spirit be upon me.
10 And he said. Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if
thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but
if not, it shall not be so.
11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that,
behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted
them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
iTbe phnse "sons of the prophets'* Is equivalent to ** prophets": it refers here to the prophetic guild.
1
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Sabtb 9mong t^e If^oAii of i^attl
AN ENGRAVINO BT JOHN MARTIN, JL. L. B.* DIED
1854, NOTED FOR THE POWER OF HIS BIBLE
8CENEB*
4>
**So David and AbUhai came to the people by nighh
and behold^ Saul lay sleeping within the trench^ and hi9
spear stuck in the ground at his bolster** — L Sam., J?6, 7.
IT WAS after David's wedding with Abigail, and when
he had taken to him also yet another wife, that King
Saul again determined to slay him; for indeed David
was ruling this southern borderland like an independent
king. With three thousand chosen soldiers, Saul pene-
trated far into the southern wilderness seeking David.
The latter, watching with his men from their secret places,
knew every movement of their pursuers. One night
with two of his most trusted followers, David watdied
the king's encampment, and saw that Saul slept, while
Abner his ever faithful general slept also by his side, and
all his warriors, exhausted by the marching of the day,
were sunk in deepest slumber. If any watched at all, it
was with weariness.
Then David challenged his companions in a spirit of
mad adventure. Would they go down with him to the vety
centre of that camp below, to visit Saul and Abner ? David's
nephew, Abishai consented, and the two stole through the
night, down the hillside, past the drowsing sentinds, to
the very tent of Saul. And no man heard or stayed
them, because God's hand was stretched out to preserve
His reckless servant *'A deep sleep from
the Lord was fallen upon them.'
iv-41
SECOND KINGS II ELISHa'S MIRACLES 655
12 ^ And Elisha saw if, and he cried, Mv father, my father, the
chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no
more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two
pieces.
13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and
went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote
the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah ? and when
he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and
Elisha went over.
15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho
saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And
they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before
him.
16 ^ And they said unto him. Behold now, there be with thy
servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy
master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up,
and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he
said, Ye shall not send.
17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send.
They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found
him not.
18 And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,)
he said unto them, Did I not say unto you. Go not?
19 ^ And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray
thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the
water is naught, and the ground Darren.
20 And he said. Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And
they brought it to him.
21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the
salt in there, and said. Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these
waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren
land.
22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying
of Elisha which he spake.
28 ^ And he went up from thence unto Beth-el : and as he was
going up by the way, there came forth little children^ out of the city,
and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up,
thou bald head.
24 And he turned back,* and looked on them, and cursed them in
the name of the Lord. And there -came forth two she bears out of
the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence
he returned to Samaria.
K>r "youths." The American Revision has "young lads.**
656 SECOND KINGS III — THE WAR AGAINST MOAB
Chapter 3
1 Jekoram'8 reign. 4 Afesha rebelleth. 6 Jehoram, vnth Jeho^iaphat^ and the king of Edom, being dittrtned
lor want of toater, by Elisha obtaitielh water, and promise of victory. 21 The Moabdes^ deceived by the a^cmr of
the water, coming to spoil, are overcome. 26 The king of Moab, by sacrificing the king of Edom *8 son, raiseth the siegt.
OW Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in
Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah,
and reigned twelve years.
2 And he wrought evil in the sight of the Ix)Rd; but not like his
father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that
his father had made.
3 Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, w^hich made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
4 ^ And ]Mesha king of ^loab was a sheepmaster, and rendered
unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred
thousand rams, with the wool.
5 But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab
rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 ^ Ana king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and
numbered all Israel.
7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying.
The king of IMoab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me
against Aloab to battle.^ And he said, I will go up: I am as thou
art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.
8 And he said, Which w^ay shall we go up.^ And he answered.
The w^ay through the wilderness of Edom.
9 So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king
of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and
there was no water for the host, ana for the cattle that followed them.
10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the Lord hath called
these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord,
that we may inqmre of the Lord by him ? And one of the king of
Israel's servants answered and said. Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat,
which poured water on the hands of Elijah.
12 And Jehoshaphat said. The word of the Lord is with him. So
the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down
to him.
13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do
with thee ? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets
of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him. Nay: for the
Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into
the hand of ^loab.
14 And Elisha said. As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I
stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat
the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.
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BT HEINBICH BCHOFIN OR CHOPIN, A GEBICAH
ABTIBT, DIED 1880.
4-
'And Dat^ said to AhUhai^ Dettroy him naUfor who
can Hretch forth his hand agairui the LonTs anoinisd,
and be guiliUssr'"—!. Sam., 26, 9,
yr '^ THEN the two Tenturous expkxen stood in
^y^j presence oi the sleeping Saul, Abishai would
^ ^ have slain the king with a spear; but David
forbade it, and insisted on sparing hb persecutor, even
as he had done before in the cave of Engedi. Vengeance
he may have desired; but religious scruples held him
back. The knowledge that Saul had been anointed king
in the name of Grod, even as he himself had been, led him
to regard Saul's person as inviolable. He vowed solemnlj
to his eager kinsman, that they must trust in Crod and
let Him deal with Saul. "As the Lord liveth* the Lord
shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall
descend into battle, and perish."
So the two took the spear and water bottle which stood
by Saul's head, and stole forth from the tent, and out
through the sleeping army. Then they shouted to Saul
from afar, and held aloft their trophies, and told him how
once more this David whom he so dtstmsted, had spared
his life. Again, as before, Saul was ashamed. He
vowed to pursue David no more, and, gathering his soldiers,
returned to Jerusalem.
iv-42
•'
SECOND KINGS III — ^THE DEFEAT OF MOAB 657
15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the
minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.
16 Ana he said. Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of
ditches.
17 For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye
see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink^
both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.
18 And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will
deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
19 And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city,
and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar
every good piece of land with stones.
20 And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering
was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and
the country was filled with water.
21^ And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come
up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on
armour, and upward, and stood in the border.
22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon
the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red
as blood:
23 And they said. This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and
they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.
24 And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose
up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they
went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.
25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land
cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells
of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kir-naraseth left they
the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about t<, and smote it.
26 ^ And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore
for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to
break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.
27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his
stead, and oflFered him /or a burnt offering upon the wall. And there
was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him,
and returned to their own land.
Cfiapter 4
1 Eluha multiplieth the teidow's oH. 8 He giveth a eon to the good Shunammile. \S He raieeth again her dead
Am. 38 At Oxlgal he healeth the deadly pottage. 42 He salisfieth an hundred men wUh twenty loaves,
lOW there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of
the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband
is dead ; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the liORD :
and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
658 SECOND KINGS IV — ELISHA BLESSES THE OIL
2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me,
what hast thou in the house P And she said. Thine handmaid hath
not anything in the house, save a pot of oil.
3 Then he said. Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours,
^even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
4 Ana when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee
:and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou
shalt set aside that which is full.
5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon
her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said
unto her son. Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her. There
is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said. Go,
•sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the
xest.
8 ^ And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was
•a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it
was, th^t as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.
9 And she said unto her husband. Behold now, I perceive that this
is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.
10 Let us make a little chamoer, I pray thee, on the wall; and let
us set for him^ there a bed, and a table, ana a stool, and a candlestick:
and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.
11 And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into
the chamber, and lay there.
12 And he said to Gehazi his servant. Call this Shunammite.
And when he had called her, she stood before him.
IS And he said unto him. Say now unto her. Behold, thou hast
been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee.^
wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the
host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.
14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi
answered. Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
15 And he said. Call her. And when he had called her, she stood
in the door.
16 And he said. About this season, according to the time of life,
thou shalt embrace a son. And she said. Nay, my lord, thou man of
God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.
17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that
Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
18 ^ And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went
out to his father to the reapers.
19 And he said unto his father. My head, my head! And he said
to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
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"Thine art ice, David, atui on ihy nde. Ihou son of
Jnse: peace be unio thee, and peare be to thine helpers; for
Ihy God helpeih lhee."—l. Chmn.. 13. IS.
D.WID knew well that no dependence could be
placed on Ihe wonis of pardon of the \'aciiliiting
Saul. He grew weary of the Lardships of the
wildernes.'}. and perhaps he thought alio of the families
which began to gather about hLs band, and uf hia own
wives and little children. At all events, he left the desert
borders and marched with all his people into Phili.stia,
seeking Ihat same King Achish of Gatb, to whom he had
before appeared as mad. DaiSd came now to Achish as
the powerful leader of a colony of exiles, offering him
sen'ice. The king readily came to terms with the outlaw,
accepting him as a vassal, and giving him the city of
Ziklag fur himself and his followers.
So David dwelt in Philislia and ruled o\-er Ziklag almost
OS an independent king: and eiery Israelite who suffered
from the tjTanny of Saul, fled forthwith to Dand, "until
it was a great host." Chief of those who joined him.
was Amasai. who came at the head of such a company
of the men of Judah and Benjamin that David tliought
they meant to attack his city. Gathering his followers
for battle, he went forth to challenge the new comers.
He thus aroused the .spirit of prophecy in Amasai and
received from him the famous promise beginoing "Thine
W
SECOND KINGS IV — THE CHILD RESTORED TO LIFE 659
20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother,
he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God,
^nd shut the door upon him, and went out.
22 And she called unto her husband, and said. Send me, I pray
th^, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to
the man of God, and come again.
23 And he said. Wherefore wdlt thou go to him to-day ? it u neither
new moon, nor sabbath. And she saia. It shall be weW.
24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and
go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee.
25 So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel.
And it came to pass, when the man of God saw^ her afar off, that
he said to Gehazi his servant. Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:
26 Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it
well with thee ? is it well with thy husband ? is it well with the child ?
And she answered, It is well.
27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught
him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the
man of God said. Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her:
and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.
28 Then she said. Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say.
Do not deceive me?
29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff
in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not;
and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon
the face of the child.
30 And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as
thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.
31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the
face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore
he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not
awaked.
32 And when Elisha was come in to the house, behold, the child
was dead, and laid upon his bed.
33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and
prayed unto the Lord.
34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth
upon his mouth, and nis eves upon his eyes, and his hands upon his
hands: and he stretched himselt upon the child; and the flesh of the
child waxed warm.
35 Then he returned and walked in the house to and fro ; and went
up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven
times, and the child opened nis eyes.
36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunanmoite. So he
660 SECOND KINGS IV — THE POISON CLEANSED
called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said. Take up
thy son.
37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to
the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
38 ^ And Elisha came again to Gilgal : and there was a dearth in the
land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he
said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for
the sons of the prophets.
39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a
wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds,^ his lap full, and came
and shred thera into the pot of pottage: for they knew thera not.
40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass,
as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O
tlwu man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat
thereof.
41 But he said. Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot;
and he said. Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there
was no harm in the pot.
42 ^ And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the
man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and
full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said. Give unto the
people, that they may eat.
43 And his servitor said. What, should I set this before an hundred
men.^ He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus
saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
44 So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof ^
according to the word of the Lord.
Chapter 5
1 Niuman^ by the report of a captive maid, is sent to Samaria to he cured of his leprosu. 8 Elisha, sending him
to Jordan, cureth him. 15 He refusing Naaman's gifts granteih him some of the earth, 20 Gdiazi, alntsing hi9
master's name unto Naaman, is smitten with leprosy.
OW Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a
great man with nis master, and honourable, because by him
the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a
mighty man in valour, out he was a leper.
2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought
away captive out of the land of Israel a Uttle maid; and she waited
on Naaman's wife.
3 And she said unto her mistress. Would God my lord were with
the prophet that is in Samaria ! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus, and thus said
the maid that is of the land of Israel.
5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter
^Probably, from what foUows, a poisonous colocynth.
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THE AMERICAN TESSOT 90CIETT OP NEW TOBK.
4*
**And Aehish aaid^ Whither have ye made a road to-
dayr'—l. Sam^ 27, 10,
DAVID'S position among the Philistines was not
an easy one to maintain. King Aehish proved a
liberal, honest, and generously minded soverngn;
but he expected David to join him wholly, and to war against
Israel. This David would not do, though his followers,
outraged and embittered against Saul, showed no such
scruples. Hence David must have found himself in
endless difficulty and even danger. His own forces he
ruled with justice and skillful firmness; the Philistines
he constantly deceived. Among other devices he led his
men on a wide-reaching raid among the desert tribes, the
Amalekites, and returned to King Aehish loaded down
with spoib. When the king in joy asked whence the
riches came, David deceived him, saying that he had
raided the border cities of Israel. To make good this
falsehood he had committed what was perhaps his most
savage deed, he had slain every one of the Amalekites,
leaving "neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings
to Gath, saying. Lest they should tell on us.'*
Thus Aehish was deceived. He thought David had
so injured Israd that his countrymen would utterly hate
him forever. Therefore the king counted fully on the
exile's service.
^
iv-44
SECOND KINGS V — ELISHA HEALS NAAMAN 661
unto tljie king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten
talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of
raiment.
6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, sa3dng. Now
when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have theretoith sent Naaman
my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter,
that he rent his clothes, and said. Am I God, to kill and to make alive,
that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy?
wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel
against me.
8 ^ And it was sOy when Elisha the man of God had heard that
the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying.
Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes ? let him come now to me, and
he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood
at the door of the house of Elisha.
10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying. Go and wash
in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and
thou shalt be clean.
11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said. Behold,
I thought. He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on
the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place,
and recover the leper.
12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than
all the waters of Israel ? may I not wash in them, and be clean ? So
he turned and went away in a rage.
13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said.
My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest
thou not have done it ? how much rather then, when he saith to thee.
Wash, and be clean ?
14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan,
according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again
like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
15 \ And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company,
and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I Know
that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore,
I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
16 But he said. As the Lord liveth, before whom \ stand, I will
receive none. And he urged him to take ii; but he refused.
17 And Naaman said. Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given
to thy servant two mules' burden of earth ? for thy servant will hence-
forth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but
unto the Lord.
18 In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master
662 SECOND KINGS V — ELISHA PUNISHES GEHAZI
goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth
on mj hand, and I bow myself in the house of Bimmon : when I bow
down myself in the house of Rinmion, the Lord pardon thy servant
in this thing.
19 And he said unto him. Go in peace. So he departed from him
a little way.
20 ^ But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said.
Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving
at his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord Uveth, I will
run after him, and take somewhat of him.
21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw
him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet
him, and said. Is all well ?
22 And he said. All is well. My master hath sent me, saying.
Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two
young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a
talent of silver, and two changes oi garments.
23 And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged
him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes
of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare
theik before him.
24 And when he came to the tower,* he took them from their hand,
and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they
departed.
25 But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said
unto him. Whence com£st thou, Gehazi ? And he said. Thy servant
went no whither.
26 And he said unto him. Went not mine heart vnth thee^ when
the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time
to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vine-
yards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants?
27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and
unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper
as white as snow,
Cfiapter 6
1 ElUha, (fiving leave to (he ycung pnfpheU to enlarge their dwellinoB, eaueelh iron to neim, 8 He diedomBi Ike
king of Syria's couneel. 13 The army, which vxu sent to Dothan to apprehend Elieha, is emiUen wOh blindnete.
19 Being brought into Samaria, they are diemiseed in peace. 24 The famine in Samaria caueeth women to eat
their oum diUaren. 30 The ting eendeth to day Elieha.
IND the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now,
the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence
every man a beam, and let us make a place there, where we may
dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
iThe Revised Venion changes 'tower" to "hfll."
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BY KXTNZ METER, A CONTEMFOBABT GEBMAN ABTTST,
4«
And the woman mM unto Sayl^ I mw
Old of the earthr'-I. Sam., 28, IS.
ONCE again war broke forth between Israel and
Fhilistia, and so the dreaded moment of decision
approached to David. King Achish summoned
him to go up with the Philistine army against his own
countrymen. Dand marched forfli with his fc^owers;
but he was sore troubled and knew not what to do. Indeed
the hour was one of incakmlable danger to all Israel.
Her own forces were divided between Saul and David.
The Philistines were united against her. Her king was
feared and distrusted even by his own army. And Saul
himself was no longer the resolute, resourceful leader he
had been. In this hour of his peril he deserted Grod
entirely, seeking council of witdies and evil spirits.
Hence came Saul's well-known visit to the witdi of
Endor. What this woman really was, has been much
discussed. A mere chaiiatan, say some; a spiritualist or
hypnotist, think others; while some believe she had indeed
actual dealings with die blackest powers of evil. Saul
sought her in the ni^t She reminded htm, in fear, of the
law which he himself had passed in his better days,
that all who trafficked with evil spirits should die. Saul
swore to hold her guiltless, and she consented to sum-
mon out of the darkness any spirit whom he named.
Saul called for the shade of the dead
prophet Samuel.
•^.'
iv-45
SECOND KINGS VI — GOD PROTECTS ELISHA 663
8 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants.
And he answered, I will go.
4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they
cut down wood.
5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water ;
and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
6 And the man of God said. Where fell it? And he shewed him
the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the
iron did swim.
7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand,
and took it.
8 Tf Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel
with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
9 And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware
that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come
down,
10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God
told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor
twice.
11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for
this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them. Will ye
not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?
12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but
Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the
words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
18 T[ And he said, Gk) and spy where he is, that I may send and
fetch him. And it was told him, saying. Behold, he is in Dothan.
14. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great
host : and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and
gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and
chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall
we do?
16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more
than they that be with them.
17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes,
that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man ;
&nd he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots
of fire round about Elisha.
18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the
Lord, and said. Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And
he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
19 ^ And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is
this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye
seek. But he led them to Samaria.
664 SECOND KINGS VI — SAMARIA BESIEGED
20 And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that
Elisha said. Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.
And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they
were in th& midst of Samaria.
21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them.
My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
22 And he answered. Thou shalt not smite tiiem: wouldest thou
smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy
bow ? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink,
and go to their master.
23 And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had
eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master.
So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
24 % And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria
gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they
besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for four-score pieces of silver,
and tne fourth part of a cab* of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.
26 And as the kin^ of Israel w^as passing by upon the wall, there
cried a woman unto nim, saying. Help, my lord, O king.
27 And he said. If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help
thee ? out of the bamfloor, or out of the wine-press ?
28 And the king said unto her. What aileth thee? And she
answered. This woman said unto me. Give thy son, that we may
eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow.
29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him : and I said unto her on
the next day, Give tny son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid
her son.
30 ^ And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the
woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed bv upon the wall,
and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon
his flesh.
31 Then -he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of
Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and
the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came
to him, he said to the elders. See ye how this son of a murderer hath
sent to take awav mine head? look, when the messenger cometh,
shut the door, and hold him fast at the door:' is not the sound of his
master's feet behind him ?
33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came
down unto him: and he said. Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what
should I wait for the Lord any longer?
> A ** cab " Is a Hebrew measure a little lai«er than a quart. *Tbe Bevisad Venrion says ** bold tbe door
test afatnst him/'
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BY SALVATORE ROSA, THE MOST CELEBRATED BfABTER
OF THE NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL, DIED 1673.
4*
Then SavlfeU Hraightway all along on the earthy and
teas 9ore afraid became of the words of SamitdJ* — I, 8a».,
WAS it really Samael wiiofle spirit was called back
to earth by the witdi of Endor? The bibfical
namtor makes no queatioii of it, thoui^ nmnj
oonuDentatDn sinoe have aigiied that this could not have
been, that no powers of evil could possibly have held con-
trol over the spirit of the pure and noble Samuel, and
that the apparition was some thing of darkness mas-
querading as the prophet The scene is thus fancifully
conceived in the celebrated picture of Rosa. Yet the
words of the spirit were certainly such as Samuel might
have spoken. He reproved Saul sternly, while the king,
broken and despairing, bowed himself at the feet of his
old master, crying out Aat God had cast him off, and
entreating the prophet for guidance.
''Then said Samuel • . . Because thou obeyedst
not the voice of the Lord . . . the Lord will also
deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines:
and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me.*'
The shadow disappeared; and Saul fell prostrate and
fainting to the earth. His attendants were terrified, lest
the king should perish in their hands. So they cheered
him, and forced food upon him, and slowly brought him
back to such life and courage as were left to him, now
that he felt himself to be face to face with death at last.
iv-46
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SECOND KINGS VII — PANIC OF THE SYRIANS 665
Cliopter 7
1 BlUha provhaielh tnaredihle tUmtu in Samaria. 3 Four leper9, venturing on flie hfM ot ikB SyrtOM^ brixi$
Uding9 ef Vutr flight, 12 The Hna, flndifUf by spies the news to he true, spoiJteth the tents of the Syrians. 17 The
krd,vBlu>tBouidnotbelievetheproiMcyofptenty,iiavingtl^
HEN Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith
the Lord, To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine
flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of bkrley for a
shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man
of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in
heaven, might this thing be? And he said. Behold, thou shalt see
ii with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
3 % And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate:
and they said one to another. Why sit we here until we die?
4 If we say. We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the
city, and we shall die there : and if we sit still here, w^e die also. Now
therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they
save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the
Syrians : and when they were come to the uttermost part of tne camp
01 Syria, behold, there was no man there.
6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise
of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the lioise of a great host:
and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against
us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come
upon us.
7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents,
and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled
for their life.
8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp,
thev went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver,
and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and
entered into another tent, and carried thence cdsOy and went and hid it.
9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a
dav of good tiain^s, and we hold our peace : if we tarry till the morning
light, some miscnief will come upon us: now therefore come, that
we may go and tell the king's household.
10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and thev
told them, saying. We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, bdiold,,
there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and
asses tied, and the tents as they were.
11 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house
within.
12 ^ And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants,
I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know
that we be htmgry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide
666 SECOND KINGS VII — THE FAMINE RELIEVED
themselves in the field, saying, T\Tien they come out of the city, we
shall catch them alive, and get into the city.
13 And one of his servants answered and said. Let some take, I
pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city,
(behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it:
behold, / say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that
are consumed:) and let us send and see.
14 They took therefore two chariot-horses; and the king sent after
the host of the Syrians, saying. Go and see.
15 And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way
wa^ full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away
in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.
16 And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians.
So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of
barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
17 ^ And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned
to have the charge of the gate: and the people trod upon him in the
fate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the
ing came down to him.
18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king,
saying. Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine
flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow about this time in the gate of
Samaria:
19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said. Now, behold,
if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thii^ be ?
And he said. Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not
eat thereof.
20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in
the gate, and he died.
Cbopttr 8
1 The ShunammUe, havino left her eountru 9even years to avoid the forewarned famine, for BlUka*9 miraeie rnke
hath her land restored by the king. 7 Haxad, being sent wiih a present by Ben-hadad to sUtha at Danuucue, after
he had heard the prophecy, kiUeth hia nuuter, and eueceedeth him. 16 Jdioram's wicked reifrn in Judah. 20 Boom
and Libnah revolt. 23 Ahaziah eueceedeth Jehoram, 25 AhaMiah*a wicked reign. 28 He visiieUi Jehoran
wounded, at Jexreel.
''-- "V
IN spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored
to life, saying. Arise, and go thou and thine hoasehold, and
sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath
called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
2 And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of
God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land
of the Philistines seven years.
3 And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman
returned out of the land of the Philistines : and she went forth to cry
unto the king for her house and for her land.
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^*And they found an Egyptian in the fidd^ and brought
him to Davidr—l. Sam., 30, 11.
IN THIS hour of extremity David was spared the neces-
sity of fighting against his fonner king. He had
promised to do so, and perhaps his followers would
have insisted on the attack; but the Philistines themselves
forbade it. King Achish trusted Dand utterly; but the
other city kings suspected the exile, fearing he might turn
suddenly against them in the height of the battle. There-
fore David and his troops were sent away.
As they journeyed slowly back toward Ziklag, they had
news of another disaster which touched tfiem yet more
nearly. In their absence their own city had been raided
by the Amalekites of the desert, in revenge for many a
similar foray by David. In a moment, the wrath wldch the
wild troops must have felt against the shifting policy of
their leader, broke into flame. This was the result of all
his maneu%'ering! Their city was destroyed, their pos-
sessions plundered, and their wives and children carried
off as captives! They threatened to stone him, even as
once their forefathers had threatened Moses.
Da\'id soon brought his followers to a better mind.
Having appealed to Grod for guidance, he chose six hun-
dred o^the strongest of the travel- weary men, and set out
in blind pursuit of the ravagers. On the way he stumbled
upon an Egyptian slave, outworn and left to die by the
retreating Amalekites. Rimsed by David's eager
promises, the Egjrptian pointed out
the route of the foe.
•^.'
TF
IV-4T— Coprrldll
SECOND KINQS VIII — ELIBHA FORESEES ISRAELIS DOOM 667
4 And the king talked with (xehazi the servant of the man of God,
saying. Tell me, I pray thee, alt the great things that Elisha hath done.
5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had
restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman whose son
he had restored to Uie, cried to the king for her house and for her
land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O kin^, this is the woman, and
this is her son, whom Elisha restored to fife.
6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the
king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying. Restore all that
was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the
land, even until now.
7 ^ And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of
Spia was sick; and it was told him, saying. The man of God is come
hither.
8 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand,
and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him,
sayii^. Shall I recover of this disease ?
9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even
of every good thin^ of Damascus, forty camels* burden, and came
and stooa before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad king of Syria
hath sent me to thee, saying. Shall I recover of this disease?
10 And Elisha said unto him. Go, sav unto him. Thou mayest
certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hatn shewed me that he shall
surely die.
11 And he settled his coimtenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed;
and the man of God wept.
12 And Hazael said. Why weepeth my lord? And he answered.
Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel :
their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou
slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their
women with child. '
13 And Hazael said» But what, is thy servant a dog, that he^ should
do this great thing ? And Elisha answered. The Lord hath shewed
me that thou shau be king over Syria.
14 So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said
to him. What said Elisha to thee ? And he answered. He told me
that thou shouldest surely recover.
15 And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth,
and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died:
&nd Hazael reigned in his stead.
16 ^ And in the fifth year or Joram^ the son of Ahab king of
Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of
"^ehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.
>The Revised Version reads " But what is thy servant, which is but a dog, that he/' etc. <Joram li tbt
nme M Jehoram.
668 SECOND KINGS VIII — EDOM REBELS
17 Thirty and two years old was he when he b^an to reign; and
he reined eight years in Jerusalem.
18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the
house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did
evil in the sight of the Lord.
19 Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for David his servant's
sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children.
20 % In nis days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah,
and made a king over themselves.
21 So Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him:
and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him
about, and the captains of the chariots : and the people fled into their
tents.
22 Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this
day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
23 And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
24 And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his
fathers in the city of David : and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
25 ^ In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel
did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah be^n to reign.
26 Two and twenty years old teas Ahaziah when ne began to reign;
and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother s name vms
Athaliah, tne daughter* of Omri king of Israel.
27 And he walked in the way of tne house of Ahab, and did evil
in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the
son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
28 t And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against
Hazael kin^ of Syria in Ramoth-gilead ; and the Syrians wounded Joram.
29 And King Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds
which the Synans had given him at Ramah, when he fought ajgainst
Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of
Judah went down to see Joram the son* of Ahab in Jezreel, because
he was sick.
Chapter 9
1 Elitha iendeOi a
hU meuaae fleeth.
U tlain atGur, atu
S.'-iTw^
Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the
prophets, and said unto him. Gird up thy loins, and take this
^ Dox of oil in thine hand, and go to Kamoth-gilead:
2 And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of
Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up
from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;
K)r "snnddaughter/* see yene 18.
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BIBUCAI*
BY GERHARD HOtfT.
**BehM ihey were spread abroad wpon all ike earthy
eaUng, and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great
spoil that they had taken:'—!. Sam., SO, 16.
THAT was a marvelloiis journey which David and
his men made after the fleeing Amalekites. What
start the raiders may have had we do not know;
but so rapid was the pursuit that even of those six hun-
dred men selected by David from all his hosts for the
arduous toil, two hundred sank down by the way and
could drag themselves no farther.
With the remaining four hundred trailing behind him,
Da\id burst upon the Amalekites where they had settled
down to feast, supposing themselves far beyond the pos-
sibility of pursuit There were Abigail and David's
other wife and his children still unharmed; and there were
the other women of his city, and all the ipoil. '*And
Da\id smote them from the twilight even unto the even-
ing of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them,
save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels,
and fled."
Then David*s own four hundred gathered up the spoils
and returned rejoicing. The raid of the Amalekites had
apparently been of vast proportions. Riches from all
southern Judah were found in their possession; and
Daiid, seeking the future friendship of his countryfolk,
returned these spoils as presents throughout the land.
■.±
iv-48
SECOND KINGS IX — ^JEHU's REVOLUTION 669
3 Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say. Thus
saith the I^ord, I have anointed tnee king over Israel. Then open
the door, and flee, and tarry not.
4 Tf So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to
Ramoth-gilead.
5 And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting;
and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said.
Unto which of all us ? And he said. To thee, O captain.
6 And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil
on his head, and said unto him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over
Israel.
7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I mav
avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all
the servants of the Lord, at the hand or Jezebel.
8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut* off
from Ahab every male, and him that is snut up and left in Israel:
9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:
10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and
there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and
fled.
11 ^Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one
said unto him, 7^ all well ? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee ?
And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication.
12 And they said. It is false; tell us now. And he said. Thus
and thus spake he to me, saying. Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed
thee king over Israel.
13 Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put
it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying,
Jehu is king.
14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired
against Joram. (Now Joram haa kept Ramoth-gilead, he and all
Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.
15 But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the
wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael
king of Syria.) And Jehu said. If it be your minds, then let none
go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.
16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay
there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
17 And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he
spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company.
And Joram said. Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and
let him say. Is it peace ?
18 So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said. Thus
670 SECOND KINGS IX — ^JEHU SLAYS JORAM
saith the king, la it peace ? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do
with peace ? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying,
The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again.
19 Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them,
and said. Thus saith the king. Is it peace? And Jehu answered,
What hast thou to do \\dth peace ? turn thee behind me.
20 And the watchman told, saying. He came even unto them, and
cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son
of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.
21 And Joram said. Make ready. And his chariot was made ready.
And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each
in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the
portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.
22 Apd it came to pass when Joram saw Jehu, that he said. Is
it peace, Jehu ? And he answered. What peace, so long as the whore-
doms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many ?
23 And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah^
There is treachery, O Ahaziah.
24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram
between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk
down in his. chariot.
25 Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain. Take up, and cast him
in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember
how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the
Lord laid this burden upon him;
26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the
blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will requite thee in this plat,
saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of
groundy according to the word of the Lord.
27 ^ But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw thisy he fled by the
way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said.
Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to
Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.
28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and
buried him^ in his sepulchre with his fathers in the citv of David.
29 And in the eleventh vear of Joram th^son of Ahab began
Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
30 ^ And wnen Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it;
and she painted her face,^ and tired her head, and looked out at a
window.
31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said. Had Zinuri peace,
who slew his master?
32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on
my side ? who ? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
-
*The Revised Verdon chanffcs "face" to "eyes.**
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FOB THEIR ACCURACY OF HISTORIC DETAH..
•i*
^80 Satd died J and his three sans^ and his armour
bearer^ and all his men, that same day together J* — /. iSam.»
Tk yf **^^*^'fflL^» unknown to David and hb men»
I ^U I the final tragedv of Saurs wild life had come.
The Philistine army attacked the king and his
still loyal troops by Mount Gilboa. The dejected Israel-
ites soon fled, nor can we find that there was any fierce
battling, except with the little group of Saul's personal
attendants. His sons stood by him devotedly. Jona-
than, fighting at their head, was slain.
And the battle went sore against Saul, ^nd the archers
hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers." Doubt-
less the hosts of the Philistines surrounded the desperate
little circle of those noted warriors, assailing them from
afar. For Saul the last scene of all was come. Too
enfeebled to fight further, he dreaded lest he be made
prisoner and insulted, perchance tortured, by the enemy.
He bade his armorbearer slay him; and when the man
refused, Saul took his own sword and fell upon it so that
he died. **And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was
dead, he fell likewise, upon his sw(»d
and died with him.*'
iv-49
SECOND KINGS X — JEHU EXTERMINATES AHAB's RACE 671
33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and
some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and
he trode her under foot.
34 And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go,
see now this cursed woman^ and bury her : for she is a king's daughter.
35 And they went to bury her : but they found no more of her than
the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
36 Wherefore they came a^ain, and told him. And he said. This
is the word of the 1x)RD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the
Tishbite, saying. In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of
Jezebel :
37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of
the field in the portion of Jezreel: so that they shall not say» This is
Jezebel.
Chapter tO
1 Jthu, by hU UUen. eaumOi aevmtv of Ahab'9 children to be hiheaded. 8 He exeumtk the fad by the prophem of
Elijah. 12 At the mearing houee he tiayeth two and forty of Ahagioh*9 brethren. 15 He taketh Jehonadab into
kit company, 18 By mtniiUy he dketroyeth all the worshippers of Baal. 29 Jdiu foUoweth Jeroboam's sins.
d2Hatael oppresseth Israel, 34 Jeftoofcox succeedeth Jehu,
Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote
letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to
the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children^
saying,
2 Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master's
sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced
city also, and armour:
3 Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and
set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.
4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings
stood not before him : how then shall we stand ?
5 And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city,
the elders also, and the bringers up of the children^ sent to Jehu,
saying. We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us;
we wfll not make any king: do thou thai which is good in thine eyes.
6 Then he \ivTote a letter the second time to them, saying. If ye
he mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of
the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow
this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with
the great men of the city, which brought them up.
7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they
took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads
in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.
8 T[ And there came a messenger, and told him,^ saying. They have
brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said. Lay ye them in
two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.
672 SECOND KINGS X — THE BAAL PRIESTS BEGUILED
9 And it came to pass in the moming, that he went out, and stood,
and said to all the people. Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against
my master, and slew nim: but wno slew all these?
10 Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the
word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of
Ahab : for the Lord hath done thai which he spake oy his servant
Elijah.
* 11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel,
and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left
him none remaining.
12 ^ And he arose and departed, and came to Samana. And as
he was at the shearing house in the way,
13 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said.
Who are ye ? And they answered. We are the brethren of Ahaziah;
and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children
of the queen.
14 And he said. Take them alive. And they took them alive, and
slew them at the pit of the shearing-house, even two and forty men;
neither left he any of them.
15 ^ And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab
the son of Rechab coming to meet him : and he saluted him, and said
to him. Is thine heart nght, as my heart is with thv heart ? And
Jehonadab answered. It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave
him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.
16 And he said. Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.
So they made him ride in his chariot.
17 And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto
Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying
of the Lord, which he spake to Elijah.
18 ^ And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto
them, Ahab served iJaal a little; hvi Jehu shall serve him much.
19 Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his
servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great
sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live.
But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the
worshippers of Baal.
20 And Jehu said. Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And
they proclaimed it.
21 And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of
Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And
they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full
from one end to another.
22 And he said unto him that wa^ over the vestry. Bring forth
vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them
forth vestments.
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tS^ lamentatton of SKrael
BY B. PICABT, AN ABTTST OF THE FLEMISH 8CHOOI.,
DIED 1734.
**And they . . . buried them tinder a tree at Jdbeth^
andfoBied seven days" — L Sam., Sl^ 13.
GREAT waa the lamentation in Israel at this com-
{^ete overthrow of Saul and his arm j. The dis-
aster left the PhiiistiiieB masters of all oentral
Israel, ^avery seemed inevitable, so that the pec^le
of the valleys abaiidoiied their homes to hide among the
mountains. Even those upon the east of Joidan "for-
sook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and
dwelt in them." Thus the kingdom which Saul had
established, and which the help of his two young cham^
pions, Jonathan and David, had so long maintained, came
wholly and miserably to an end.
The Philistines found Saul*s body with that of Jona-
than upon the field of battle. "And they cut off his head,
and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the
Philistines round about, to publisfa it in the house of their
idols, and ammig the people." Saul's armor was placed
in their chief temple as a trophy; f6r indeed he had been
'a very terrible enemy to them during many years. His
body and those of hb sons were exposed in insult upon
the walls of the city oi Beth-shan in the heart of Inael
not far from Jordan's banks. Then the men of the near-
by city of Jabesh, the chief town of the Gileadites, came
secretly by night, and took down th^ bodies. These
were burned with honor in Gilead, while the people wept
and fasted and prayed for help from God.
So ended the tragic lives of
Saul and Jonathan.
iv-50
SECOND KINGS X — JEHU REIGNS OVER ISRAEL 673
23 And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the
house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and
look that there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord,
but the worshippers of Baal only.
24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings,
Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said. If any of the men
whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go^
his life shall be for the life of him.
25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end
of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and
to the captains. Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And
they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and
the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of
Baal.
26 And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal,
and burned them.
27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake
down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house unto this
day.
28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
29 ^ Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to
wity the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in
Dan.
30 And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done
well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done
unto the house of Ahab according to all that wa^ in mine heart,
thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of
Israel.
31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of
Israel with all his heart : for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam,
which made Israel to sin.
32 ^ In those days the I^rd began to cut Israel short: and Hazael
smote them in all the coasts of Israel.
33 From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and
the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the
river Arnoh, even Gilead and Bashan.
34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all
his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel ?
35 And Jehu slept with his fathers : and they buried him in Samaria.
And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.
36 And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was
twenty and eight years.
674 SECOND KINGS XI — ATHALIAH's CRIME
Chapter II
1 JehoQih. being mved by JthtMMba hia aurU from Atkaliah'a ma*$aere of th4 teed roual, U hid tix yoan in Oke
kouae of God. A Jehoiada, giving order to the captains, in the aeventh year anointelh him kUtg. 13 AAahah ie
Main. 17 Jehoiada redoreth the worship of Ood.
ND when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son
was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of
Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among
the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and
his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.
3 And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years.
And Athaliah did reign over the land.
4 If And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over
hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to
him into the house of the Lord, and made a covenant with them, and
took an oath of them in the house of the Lord, and shewed them the
king's son.
5 And he commanded them, saying. This is the thing that ye shall
do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be
keepers of the watch of the king's house;
6 And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at
the gate behind tne guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house,
that it be not broken down.
7 And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even
they shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the kinc.
8 And ye snail compass the king round about, every man vnut
his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let
him be slain: and be ye w^ith the king as he goeth out and as he
cometh in.
9 And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things
that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his
men that were to come in on the sabbath, wdth them that should go
out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.
10 And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king
David's spears and snields, that were in the temple of the Lord.
11 And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand,
round about tne king, from the right corner of tne temple to the
left corner of the temple, along by tne altar and the temple.
12 And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon
him, and aave him the testimony; and they made him king, and
anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the
king. *
13 ^ And when Athaliah heard the noise of the ^lard and of the
people, she came to the people into the temple of tne Lord.
'In Hebrew " may the king Uve."
tS^t i^laper Main
BT B. PICABT, A FLEMIBU ABTIST, DIED 17S4»
**And David said unto him^ Thy blood be upon thy head;
for thy mouth hath testified against thee^ saying^ I have
slain the Lofd*s anointed" — II, Sam,, /, 16.
THE tale of David is taken up in the second book of
Samuel, and again in First Chronicles, at the dif-
ficult moment of statescraft that fc^owed on
Saul's death. News of this grim event reached the noted
outlaw speedily. A desert marauder, one of the wild
Amalekites, had been hovering about the field of Saul's
battle, lured doubtless by the chance of plunder among the
slain. His good or e^^l fortune led him to stumble upon
Saul's body before the Philistines discovered it; and with
little reverence for the fallen monarch, he rent away the
crown upon his helmet and the royal clasp or bracket
from his arm.
There was a general feeling that, with Saul and Jonathan
both dead, David was the only possible leader left to Israel.
So the Amalekite robber hastened to David with the royal
insignia. Hoping still further to ingratiate himself with
the new chieftain, the plunderer told a tale of having him-
self crushed Saul to death. The bragging falsehood, if
false it was, sealed the miserable wretch's fate. How
often had David himself showed mercy to his king, though
sorely pressed to slay him! And this man, finding the
'Lord's anointed" helplessly wounded, had trampled
upon him! *'And David called one of his young men,
and said. Go near, and fall upon him. And
he smote him that he died." Thus
was Saul avenged.
iv-n61
SECOND KINGS XI — ^JOASH CROWNED IN JUDAH 675
14 And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as
the manner waSy and the princes and the trumpeters by the king,
and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and
Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried. Treason, Treason!
15 But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hun-
dreds, the oflScers of the host, and said unto them. Have her forth
without the ranges*/ and him that followeth her kill with the sword.
For the priest had said. Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord.
16 And they laid hands on her;^ and she went by the way by the
which the horses came into the king*s house: and there was she
slain.
17 ^ And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the
king and the people, that they should be the Lord's people; between
the King also«ana the people.
18 Ajnd all the people of the land went into the house of Baal,
and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces
thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.
And the priest appointed oflScers over the house of the Lord.
19 Ana he took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains, and
the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down
the king from the house of the Lord, and came by the way of the
gate of the guard to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of
the kings.
20 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in
quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword heside the king's house.
21 Seven years old was Jehoash when he began to reign.
Cfiapter 12
1 Jekoath reigneth wdl aU the days of Jehoiada. 4 He giveth order for the repair of the temple. 17 Hazad it
divfrted from Jertualem by a present of the haUoioed treasures. 19 Jehoash being eiavn by his servants, Amaziah
fucceedeth hitn,
N the seventh year of Jehu Jehoash' began to reign; and forty
years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name Wds
Zibiah of Beer-sheba.
2 And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the Ix)rd
all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
3 But tne high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed
and burnt incense in the high places.
4 % And Jehoash said to tne priests. All the money of the dedicated
things that is brought into the house of the Lord, even the money
of every one that passeth the account^ the money that every man is
set at, and all the money that cometh into any man's heart to bring
into the house of the Ix)RD,
5 Let the priests take it to them, every man of his acquaintance:
>Tlie Revised Version says "between tbe ranks.** ^Revised Version: ''So they made way for her.**
'Jehoash is the same as Joash.
mM
676 SECOND KINGS XII — ^JOASH RESTORES THE TEMPLE
and let them repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach
shall be found.
6 But it was so, thai in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash
the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.
7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the triher
priests, and said unto them. Why repair ye not the breaches of the
house ? now therefore receive no more money of your acqaaintance,
but deliver it for the breaches of the house.
8 And the priests consented to receive no more money of the people,
neither to repair the breaches of the house.
9 But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the
lid of it, and set it besiae the altar, on the right side as one eometh
into the house of the Lord: and the priests that kept the door put
therein all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord.
10 And it was so, when they saw that there wa^s much money in
the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and
they put up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house
of the Lord,
11 And they gave the money, being told, into the hands of them
that did the wonc, that had the oversight of the house of the Losd:
and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders, that WTought upon
the house of the Lord,
12 And to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buv timber and
hewed stone to repair the breaches of the house of the Lord, and for
all that was laid out for the house to repair it.
13 Howbeit there were not made for the house of the Lord bowls
of silver, snuffers, basons, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels
of silver, of the monev that was brought into the house of the Lord:
14 But they gave ttat to the workmen, and repaired therewith the
house of the Lord.
15 Moreover they reckoned not vAXh the men, into whose hand they
delivered the money to be bestowed on workmen: for they dealt
faithfully.
16 The trespass-money and sin-money was not brought into the
house of the Ix)rd: it was the priests*.
17 ^ Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath,
and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all tne hallowed thin^ that
Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah,
had demcated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that
wa^ found in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the king's
house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria, and he went away from
Jerusalem.
19 ^ And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
jBoiitli'st JLaawxt
BT DOMEiaCO ZAMPIERI, CALLED DOBCCNICHINOt
THE ITAUAN 1IA8TEB, DIED 1641.
+
**And David lamented wilh this lamentation aver Saul
and over Jonathan his son** — ■//. Sam,, 1, 17.
THE first acUof David on learning of Saul's over-
throw was to give himself over to a period of
mourning. He summoned his f (lowers to join
him in a public service of sorrow. *'And they mourned,
and wept, and fasted until even» for Saul, and for Jona-
than his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the
house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.**
As an act of policy this was undoubtedly wise. It re-
minded the Israelites of David's kinship to the former king,
of his dose alliance with the hero Jonathan. It prodaimed
him as the friend of all Saul's friends, so that they need not
fear his vengeance if they made him king. Furthermore,
learning how the men of Jabesh had rescued the bodies
of the king and his sons, David sent them a special message
of thanks, "'because ye have done this thing."
Yet we need not regard David's sorrow as purdy politi-
cal. He had honored Saul; and the friendship with Jona-
than seems to have been the deepest a£Fection of his eariy
life. So David composed a famous song of lamentation
(II. Samuel, 1), which doses with a passionate burst of
feeling: "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:
very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was
wonderful, passing the love of women. How
are the mighty fallen, and the weapons
of war perished!
i9»
^^^
iv-52
tf
:0^^ f,
.'A^
] #
4 i
SECOND KINGS XIII — THE SYRIANS OPPRESS ISRAEL * 677
20 And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash
in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.
21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of
Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him
with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned
in his stead.
Cfiopter 13
1 Jdioahaz'8 wicked reign. 3 Jehfxuah, oppressed by Hazael, is relier^ by prayer. 8 Joash succeedeth him,
10 His wicked reign. 12 Jeroboam succeedeth him. 14 Elisha dying prophesieth to Joash three victories over
Ike Syrians. 20 The MoabiUs invading the land, Elisha' s bones raise up a dead man. 22 Hatael dying, Joash
geUelh three victories over Ben-hadad.
N the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah
king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over
Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.
2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,* and
followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel
to sin; he departed not therefrom.
3 ^ And tne anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and
he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into
the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all their days.
4 And Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened
unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of
Syria oppressed him.
5 (And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from
under the hand of the Syrians : and the children of Israel dwelt in
their tents, as beforetime.
6 Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of
Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there re-
mained the grove also in Samaria.)
7 Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen,
and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of
Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by
threshing.
8 f ?sow the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and
his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel ?
9 And Jehoahaz slept w4th his fathers; and they buried him in
Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.
10 % In the thirty and seventn year of Joash king of Judah began
Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and
reigned sixteen years.
11 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord; he
departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel sin: but he walked therein.
12 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his
678 SECOND KINGS XIII — ELISHa'S DEATH
might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel ?
13 And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his
throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with, the kmgs of
Israel.
14 ^ Now Elisha w^as fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died.
And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over
his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and
the horsemen thereof.
15 And Elisha said unto him. Take bow and arrows. And he
took unto him bow and arrows.
16 And he said unto the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the
bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hanos upon
the king's hanas.
17 And he said. Open the window eastward. And he opened it.
Then EUsha said. Shoot, And he shot. And he said. The arrow
of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria:
for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consiuned
them,
18 And he said. Take the arrows. And he took them. And he
said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote
thrice, and stayed.
19 And the man of God was wroth with him, and said. Thou
shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria
till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but
thrice.
20 ^ And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of
the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold,
they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre
of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones
of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
22 % But Ilazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of
Jehoahaz.
23 And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compassion
on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither
cast he them from his presence as vet.
24 So Hazael king of Syria died; and Ben-hadad his son reigned
in his stead.
25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand
of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out
of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash
beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.
^\ft Crotomng of jBobtb
FROM THE BIBLICAL SERIES BY JULIUS SCHNORR.
**And the men rf Judah came^ and there they anoinied
David king over the house rf Judah J'* — II. Sam^ 2^ 4*
ALMOST immediatelj on Saul's death came
David's formal coronation. The outlaw's own
stron^^d of Ziklag had been bunied hj the
desert raiders; so he removed* to Hebron, thus definitely
abandoning the land of Philistia and letuming to his own
people. At Hebron, the mountain c^tal of Judah, in
which Abraham had lived, and which Caleb and Othniei
had captured in Joshua's time, the kingship was offered
to David by the chieftains of Judah, his own tribe. The
outlaw had not forgotten that mystic ceremony of his
boyhood at which the prophet Samuel anointed him; and
it seems probable that at Hebron he was an<Mnted by
Samuel's pupil and successor, the prophet Gad. It should
be noted that this was not a final ceremony performed by
the unanimous consent of all Israel. Judah alone accepted
David at first. And thus was opened that separation be*
tween Judah and the rest of IsnA which in a later period
wrought such disaster.
The new king was thirty years of age. The remark-
ably varied experiences of his career, with its heights of
achievement and depths of suffering, had taught him
wisdom and gentleness, as well as sterner statesmanship
and valor. He proved the best ruler the Israelites ever
knew, an ideal held up to all future generations. For,
above all, he had learned to worship God
with love and trust.
iv~53
SECOND KINGS XIV — ISRAEL CAPTURES JERUSALEM 679
Chapter 14
1 Amaziah't pood reion. 5 HU justice on the murderer a of his father. 7 Hia victory over Edom. 8 Amagiahi
provoking Jenoaah, m overcome and spoiled. 15 Jeroboam succeedeth JdioaA. 17 Amaziah slain by a con*
^piracy. 21 Atarvah succeedeth him. 23 Jeroboam's vricked reign. 28 Zarhariah succeedeth him.
the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel
reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.
2 He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign,
and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And nis mother's
name was Jehoaddan of Jersualem.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet
not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash
his father did.
4 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people
did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.
5 ^ And it came to pass, as soon as tne Kingdom was confirmed
in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his
father.
6 But the children of the murderers he slew not : according unto that
which is written in the book of the law of Moses wherein the Lord
commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the
children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every
man shall be put to death for his own sin.
7 He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took
Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.
8 ^ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz
son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in
the face.
9 And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah,
saying. The thistle that wa^ in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was
in Lebanon, saying. Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there
passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the
thistle.
10 Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted
thee up: glory of this^ and tanr at home: for why shouldest thou
meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah
with thee ?
11 But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of
Israel went up ; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another
in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.
12 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled
every man to their tents.
13 And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the
son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesn, and came to
Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of
Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
680 SECOND KINGS XIV — ^JEROBOAM II. IN ISRAEL
14 And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that
were found in the house oi the Lord, and in the treasures of the
king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.
15 ^ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his
might, and how he fought with Amaziah kin^ of Judah, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the Kings of Israel ?
16 And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria
with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his
stead.
17 ^ And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after
the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz King of Israel fifteen
years.
18 And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
19 Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and
he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him
there.
20 And they brought him on horses : and he was buried at Jerusalem
with his fathers in tne city of David.
21 ^ And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which wa^ sixteen
years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
22 He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king
slept with his fathers.
23 T[ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of
Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in
Samaria, and reigned forty and one years.
24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he
departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel to sin.
25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath
unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Ix>rd God of
Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of
Amittai, the propnet, which was of Gath-hepher.
26 For theXoRD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter:
for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for
Israel.
27 And the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of
Israel from under heaven : but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam
the son of Joash.
28 ^ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did,
and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus,
and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of
Israel: and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.
x>'
■ }
<»..
Z^t tlDtoeltie Sgatnut tE^toeltie
FROM THE BIBU^AL SERIES BT OUSTAYE DOr£
*
**And they caught every one hiafdUno hy the head^ and
thrust hie nvord in hisfdlow*9 aide; eo they fell down to^
gether^^II. Sam., 2, 16.
WHILE David was thus crowned at Hebron,
another king was proclaimed farther north.
Saul's cdebrated general Abner had escaped
from the disaster at Gilboa. A sin^e son of Saul also sur-
vived, a feeble and foolish young man, named Ish-bosheth.
Abner made Ish-bosheth king; and such was Abner*s in-
fluence and power that all the northern and eastern tribes
accepted Ish-bosheth. Thus the land of Israel was reaUj
divided into three. The central valleys were held by the
Philistines; the mountains of the north and east obeyed
Abner; while the southland dung to David. For five
years the latter seems to have governed Judah in peace;
while Abner, fighting against the Philistines, gradually
re-won from them most of what Saul had lost.
Then came the time when Abner thought himself strong
enough to conquer David also. At least this seems the
most natural way to interpret the biblical passage which
represents him as camping with an army on the borders
of Judah, by the pool of the city of Gibeon. Joab, David's
general, encamped opposite to him; and Abner suggested
a combat between twelve men on either side. Perhaps
we have here a scene of two rival generals urging on im-
willing soldiers to fight against their countrymen in a civil
war. At any rate the strife of the twelve against twelve
resulted in the death of them all. A general battle
followed, in which David's celebrated
veterans were victorious.
^-^^
iv-54
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11
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-' ^.--i^'*
SECOND KINGS XV — THE LAST OF JEHu's RACE 681
1 Azanah*8 qood reiqn. 5 He dying a leper, Jatham succeedeth. 8 Zachariah, the last of Jehu's generation,
reigning ill, w slain oy Shailum, 13 Shallum, reigning a month, is slain by Menahem. 16 Menahem strength-
eneth himself by Ptd. 21 Pekahiah succeedeth him. 23 Pekahiah is slain by Pekah. 27 Pekah is oppressed
by Tiglath'pileser, and slain by Hoshea. 32 Jotham's good reign. 36 Ahaz succeedeth him.
the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel
began Azanah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign. ^
^1 2 Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and
ne reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother s name
was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
3 And he did that tvhich was right in the sight of the Lord, accord-
ing to all that his father Amaziah had done;
4 Save that the hi^h places were not removed: the people sacrificed
and burnt incense still on the high places.
5 ^ And the Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper unto
the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the
king's son was over the house, judging the people of the land.
6 And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they
not w^ritten in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
7 So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his
fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
8 ^ In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did
Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel m Samaria six
months.
9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his
fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son
of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
10 And Shailum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and
smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
11 And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
12 This was the word of the Lord which he spake unto Jehu,
saying. Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth
generation. And so it came to pass.
13 Tf Shailum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and
thirtieth year of Uzziah^ king of Judah: and he reigned a full month
in Samaria.
14 For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came
to Samaria, and smote Shailum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and
slew him, and reigned in his stead.
15 And the rest of the acts of Shailum, and his conspiracy which
he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel.
16 ^ Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein,.
'It was In the reign of Azariah or Uzziah that the prophet Isaiah hefran his mission. See the bool^
of Isaiah, chapter 6. Also the prophet Amos. > Uzziah is the sane king as Azariah.
•682 SECOND KINGS XV — THE ASSYRIANS PLUNDER ISRAEL
.and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him^
therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child
he ripped up.
17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began
Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel » ana reigned ten years
in Samaria.
18 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he
departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
-who made Israel to sin.
19 And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Mena-
hem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be
with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
20 And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the
mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give
to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and
stayed not there in the land.
21 % And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
22 And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekamah his son
reigned in his stead.
23 Tf In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the
:son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned
two years.
24 And he did that which wa^ evil in the sight of the Lord: he
•departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made
Israel to sin.
25 But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired
;against him,, and smote him in Samaria, in tne palace of the king's
house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gilead-
ites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.
26 And the rest of the acts of Jrekahiah, and all that he did, behold,
they are wTitten in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
27 ^ In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah
the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and
reigned twenty years. -
28 And he did that which wa^s evil in the sight of the Lord: he
departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made
Israel to sin.
29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king
of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and tlanoah, ana
Kedesn, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali,
and carried them captive to Assyria.
30 And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah
the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in
his stead, in the twentieth vear of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
Wmtt i^mtnoneb Pac% to JentKalem
AFTER PROFESSOR B. PIOLHEIN, A CONTEMPOR.\RT
GERMAN ARTIST.
+
**He gent messengers after Abner, which brought hitn
again from the well ofSirah." — II, Sam.^ 3, 26,
ABNER escaped from the defeat of bis anny; but
in bis flight he slew Asahel, the youngest of
David's three celebrated nephews, Joab, Abishai
and Asahel. Thus there arose a blood-feud between
Abner and Joab, already rivals in generalship and fame.
Abner quarreled with his king, Ish-bosheth, and in his
anger arranged to throw over his puppet-master, and
transfer the rule of all Israel to David. P«rhaps his de-
feat by Joab had taught him the necessity of this. Thus
a league was formed between Abner and David, and
Abner came in person to David's city of Hebron, where the
two feasted and pledged faith to each other. Then Abner
went forth to do, what he well could do, bring Israel peace-
fully into David*s hands.
The jBerce general Joab had been forth on a raid during
Abner's rait. Returning just after his enemy left, he
flared out even against his king in furious anger. Then
hastily leaving David's presence, he despatched word after
Abner recalling him to the city for a further matter. Abner
returned in all confidence, and Joab taking him aside as if
for secrecy, suddenly stabbed him to death, to avenge
his brother. So Israel's great chieftain died, ''as a fool
dieth," and his plans for aiding Da\4d perished with him.
iv-55
SECOND KINGS XV— JOTHAM OF JUDAH 683
31 And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold,
they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel.
32 ^ In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of
Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
33 Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and
ie reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name Wds
Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
34 And he ^xAthat which was right in the sight of the Lord: he
did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
35 % Howbeit the high places were not removed : the people sacri-
ficed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher
gate of the house of the Lord.
36 ^ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah ?
37 In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin
the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remalian.
38 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his
fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in
his stead.
Cfiapter 16
1 Ahag*$ wicked reign. 6 Ahaz^ assailed by Rezin and Pekah, hireih Tiglath-piieser against them. 10 Ahaz,
sending a pattern of an altar from Damascus to Urijah, diverteth the l>rasen allcar to his own devotion. 17 He
spoileih the temple. 19 Hesekiah succeedeth him,
the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz
the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign,
and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was
right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father.
3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made
his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the
heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of
Israel.
4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on
the hills, and under every green tree.
5 ^ Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king
of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but
could not overcome himi.
6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and
drave the Jews^ from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt
there unto this day.
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria,
. iThis is the first time that the name Jews is used in the Bible. It refers to the Judeans and distinguishes
»w people of the southern Icingdom from those of the northern.
684 SECOND KINGS XVI — ^AHAZ HONORS THE ASSYRIANS
saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up and save me out of
the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of
Israel, which rise up against me.
8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house
of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it
for a present to the king of Assyria.
9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of
Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people
of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
10 Tf And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser
king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king
Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern
of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king
Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against
king Ahaz came from Damascus.
12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw
the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered
thereon.
13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and
poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace
offerings, upon the altar.
14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which wa^ before the
Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and
the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar.
15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying. Upon
the great altar ourn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat
offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and nis meat offering, with
the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering,
and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the
burnt offering, and all tne blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar
shall be for me to inquire by.
16 Thus did Urijan the priest, according to all that king Ahaz^
commanded.
17 ^ And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed
the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen
oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
18 And the covert for the sabbath tnat they had built in the house,,
and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord
for the king of Assyria.
19 ^ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his
fathers in the city of David: and llezekiah his son reigned in his
stead.
Ci
BT J. JAMES TmaOT. BEPRODUCED BY COUBTESY OF
THE
[CAN TI8BOT SOCIETY OF NEW YOBK.
** Behold the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Savl thine
enemy.** — II. Sam., 4» S,
AFTER Abner's death it might have been easy for
Da\'id to overthrow the feeble King Ish-bosheth and
establish his own rule over all Israel. But he had
learned to await God's own way and time; he was quite
content to govern Judah wisely; and he had grown to
abhor, more than ever, all deeds of blood. He repudiated
Joab's savage crime, and refused to reap advantage from it.
Nay, he cursed his nephew Joab, bitterly, crying out that
his own household were risen against him, and regretting
that his fierce nephews were too powerful to be punished.
Then he made public mourning for Abner, and sang a
song telling of the greatness and heroism of the fallen
general.
Nevertheless another murder followed Abner's. Thinking
to win favor with David, two of Ish-bosheth's own captains
went boldly into his house and slew him, as he lay asleep dur-
ing the noontide heat. Then they hastened to lay before
David the gory endence of their crime. The king cried
out bitterly because, after all that had passed, men oould
still be found to believe that he would welcome such evil
deeds. He ordered the criminals slain. Yet he oould
no longer choose but profit by these acts. There was no
one else left to rule over Israel; and all the people came
voluntarily to David at Hebron, to
entreat him to be king.
.-\
lv-56
SECOND KINGS XVII— ISRAPJl's EXTINCTION 685
Cijapter 17
1 Ho^iea*$ toicked reign. 3 Being subdiied by ShcUmaneser, he eonepireth againet him loilh So king of Egypt.
6 Samaria for thetr eins is caplivated. 24 The strange ncUions, which were transplanted in Samaria, being plagued
vriih hons^ make a miocture of religions.
IN the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the
son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,
tut not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
3 ^ Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea
l>ecame nis servant, and gave him presents.
4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had
sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the
Icing of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of
Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
5 ^ Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and
Tvent up to Samaria, and besieged it tnree years.
6 ^ In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria,
and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and
in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the
IjORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of
Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had
feared other gods,
8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast
out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel,
which they had made.
9 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were
not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places
dn all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill,
.and under every green tree:
11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the
ieathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought
nvicked things to provoke the Lord to anger:
12 For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them,
'Ye shall not do this thing.
13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by
:all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Tiirn ye from your evil
ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to
.all the law wmch 1 commanded your fathers, and which I sent to
you by my servants the prophets.
14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks,
like to the ueck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their
God.
V5 .And .they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made
686 SECOND KINGS XVII — THE ASSYRIANS COLONIZE SAMARIA
with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them;
and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen
that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged
them, that thev should not do like them.
16 And thev left all the commandments of the Lord their God^
and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove,,
and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17 And tncy caused their sons and their daughters to pass through
the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves
to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
18 Therefore the Lord was very angry \\ith Israel, and removed
them out of his sight : there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God„
but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
20 And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and aflBiicted them^
and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them
out of his sight.
21 For he. rent Israel from the house of David: and they made
Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from
following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin.
22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam
which he did; they departed not from them;
23 Until the Lord removed Israel 6ut of his sight, as he had said
by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of
their own land to Assyria unto this day.
24 ^ And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from
Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and
placed tJiem in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel:
and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
25 And so it was at the lieginning of their dwelling there, thai
they feared not the Lord : therefore the Lord sent lions among them^
which slew some of them.
26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying. The nations
which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know
not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent Uons
among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not
the manner of the God of the land.
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying. Carry thither
one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go
and dwell tnere, and let him teach them the manner of the Grod of
the land.
28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from
Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should
fear the Lord.
29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put ikem
**With the jeopardy of their lives they hroughi it; there"
fore he vxndd not drink it" — I, Chron.^ 11^ 19.
THUS at the age of thirtj-seven, David came,
through God's will, not his own, to be crowned
king over a reunited Israel. In a^iiming Abner's
place, he had to assume also that great general's duty of
defending the northern and central tribes against the
Philistines. To this period therefore it seems most proper
to assign those wars against his former allies which are
recorded in Chronicles and toward the close of H. Samuel.
Attacked by the Philistines, perhaps unexpectedly, the
new king was put to sore straits. The records of this
period tell, not of battling armies, but of indiridual deeds
of bravery, as though David and his old tried comrades
were as outnumbered as when they resisted Saul.
Most celebrated among their bold achievements is that
of the " three mighty men." King David's own native town
of Beth-lehem was held by the Philistines; and the king,
gazing at it from a far-off hill, remembered the days of his
youth and sighed for a draught of the pure cool water from
the well by the gate of Beth4ehem. Between him and
his desire lay the entire army of the foe; but three of his
champions, overhearing him, made naught of the difficulty.
By a sudden rush they burst through the Philistine camp,
secured the water, and fought their way back to the king.
Deeply moved by their valor and devotion, Darid declared
the water too sacred to be drunk; it was the blood of his
friends. And he poured it on the ground,
as an offering to God.
iv-57
SECOND KINGS XVII — THE SAMARIANS HONOR GOD 687
in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made,
every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.
30 And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men
of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima.
31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites
burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the
gods of Sepharvaim.
32 So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the
lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them
in the houses of the high places.
33 They feared the jLord, and served their own gods, after the
manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. ^
34 Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not
the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances,
or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the
children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
35 With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them,
saying. Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor
serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
36 But the Ix)rd, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
with ffreat power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and
him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.
37 And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the
commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for
evermore; and ye shall not fear other ffods.
38 And the covenant that I have maae with you ye shall not forget;
neither shall ye fear other gods.
39 But the Lord your God ye shall fear: and he shall deliver you
out of the hand of all your enemies.
40 Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former
manner.
41 So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven
images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their
fathers, so do they unto this day.
Chapter 18
Samaria is carried capHve for their ntu.
sent by Sennacherib again, revilelh
|OW it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah
king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah
began to reign.
2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and
he reigned twenty anrf nine years in Jerusalem. His mother s name
also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
'The Revised Version says, ** from among whom they had been carried away."
€88 SECOND KINGS XVllI — HEZEKIAH REFORMS JUDAH
3 And he did that which was ri^ht in the sight of the Lord, accord-
ing to all that David his father did.
4 ^ He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut
down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses
had made : for unto those days tne children of Israel did bum incense
to it: and he called it Nehushtan.*
5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was
none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before
him.
6 For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him,
but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.
7 And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever
he went forth : and he rel^elled against the king of Assyria, and served
him not.
8 He smote the Philistines, eren unto Gaza, and the borders thereof,
from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
9 1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which
wa^ the seventh year of Iloshea son of Elah king of Israel, that
Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
10 And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth
year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth yefar of Hoshea king of Israel,
Samaria was taken.
11 And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria,
and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in
the cities of the ISIedes:
12 Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but
transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord
commanded, and would not hear them^ nor do them.
13 Tl Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib
king of Assyria come up against all the lenced cities of Judah, and
tooK them.
14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to
Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: tnat whicti thou
puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto
Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty
talents of gold.
15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the
house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house.
16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off tlie gold from the doors of the
temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of
Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
17 ^ And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-
shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against
Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when
iNehushtan means a piece of brass, probably " bronze-goc/*
« >
Babdi IMornm JttwtsHtm
BT J. STEEPLE DATIB, A CONTEMPORART AMEBICAN
ABTIBT.
4*
**Exeept thau take away the blind and the lame^ thou
shalt not come in hither" — II, Sam,^ 5, 6,
KING DAVn> never desired war. Hence his strife
against the Philistines, who had onoe befriended
him, must have been to him an unhappy neoessitj.
There was, however, another struggle which he undertook
with enthusiasm. The city of Jerusalem had never ap-
parently belonged wholly to the Hebrews. In their days
of power they held the main town and the regions round
about. But the citadel, the central stronghold, remained
in the hands of the Jebusites, the original owners of the
district, from whom the city was first named. After
Saul's death, if not before, these Jebnsites reassumed
possession of the entire town. Jerusalem was the chief
fortress of the mountains, and David resolved to c^ture
it completely.
So impossible seemed the project of storming those tre-
mendous walls, that when David's army approached, the
Jebusites mocked the king, and seem to have placed the
blind and lame upon the ramparts, declaring that even
such helpless folk were sufficient for the defence. Then
King David was wroth and cried out that whoever first
won a way to the summit should be his chief captain.
Joab, the king's fierce and mighty nephew, who was still in
disgrace for the slaying of Abner, fought his way to the
top like a lion. The city was captured; and Joab was
again chief general of the king.
,, "^yf^
iv-58
SECOND KINGS XVIII THE ASSYRIANS ATTACK JUDAH 689
they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper
pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.
18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them
Eliakim the son of Eulkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna
the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
19 And Rab-shakeh said unto them. Speak ye now to Hezekiah,
Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is
this wherein thou trustest ?
20 Thou savest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and
strength for tke war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou
rebeliest against me.^
21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed,
even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand,
and pierce it: so 'W Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
22 But if ye say unto me, \fe trust in the Lord our God: is not
that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken
away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before
this altar in Jerusalem ?
23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king
of Assyria, and I will aeliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be
able on thy part to set riders upon them.
24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the
least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots
and for hoi*semen?
25 Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to
destroy it? The Lord said to me. Go up against this land, and
destroy it.
26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiali, and Shebna, and Joah,
unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian
language; for we understana it: and talk no^. with us in the Jews'
language iu the ears of the people that are on the wall.
27 But Jlab-shakeh said unto them. Hath my master sent me to
thy master, and to thee, to speak these words ? hath he not sent me
to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung,
and drink the water of their feet with you ?
28 Then Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews*
languf^e, aud spake, saying. Hear the word of the great king, the
king oi Assyria.
29 Thus saith the king. Let not Hezekiah deceive you : for he shall
not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
30 Neither let HezeKiah make you trust in the Lord, saying. The
Ix)rd will surely deliver us, and this cit}^ shall not be delivered into
the hand of the king of Assyria.
31 Hearken not to Hezelaah: for thus saith the king of Assyria,
Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and
690 SECOND KINGS XVIII — THE ASSYRIANS SCORN THE LORD
then eat ve every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig-tree,
and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
32 Until I come and take vou away to a land like your own land,
a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of
oil-olive and of honey, that ye may Uve, and not die: and hearken
not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying. The Lord will
deliver us.
33 Hath anv of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out
of the hand of the king of Assyria ?
34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad ? where are the
gods of Sepharvaim, Ilena, and Ivah ? have they delivered Samaria
out of thine hand ?
35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have
delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver
Jerusalem out of mine hand ?
36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word:
for the king's commandment was, saying. Answer him not.
37 Then came Eliakim the son of ifilkiah, which was over the
household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the
recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words
of Rab-shakeh.
Cfiapter 19
1 Hezekiah mourning sendfih to Taaiah to pray for them. 6 Imiah comforttth them. 8 Sennaeheribt going to
encounter Tirhakah, sendeih a btasphemoua letter to Hezekiah. 14 Hezekiah's prayer. 20 i9aiah*8 prophecy cf
the pride and destruction of Sennacherib, and the good of Zion, 35 An angel daydh the Acayriofu. 36 Snuio*
eherib is slain at Nineveh by his own sons.
ND it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he
rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went
into the house of the Ix)RD.
2 And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna
the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to
Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said unto him. Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a
day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are
come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the Lord thy God will near all the words of Rab-
shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach*
the living God; and win reprove the words which the Lord tny God
hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 ^ And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master,
Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast
heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed
me.
>Tbe American Revisloxi says *'4efy" Instead of ''reproach" in this and later veises of the chapter.
t*
I
^ 1
M !
. I
BY WILLIAM VON KAULBACH, HEAD OF THE MUNICH
ACADEMY, DIED 1874.
+
**And David said unto all the congregation of Itrad^
Let %u bring again the ark of our God to im."—
AT ABOUT the same time as his capture of Jeru-
salem, David won a decisive victory over the
Philistines, driving them wholly out of laroeL
These two events maiked a great turning point in his
career. He had aocom[^hed more than Saul had done
in even the height of success. David was no longer the
warrior leader of a half-defeated people struggling for
existence. He was the assured monarch of a mighty
nation, having peace within its borders. Henceforward
the wisdom of the sovereign becomes more notaUe than
his valor.
David's first effort was to restore in its true form the
worship of the One God, almost forgotten of the people.
Ever since the days of Samuel the ark of God had remained
as if half-forgotten, in the little town of Kirjath-jearim
where it had been placed when the Philistines returned it
from its captivity. Now, David summoned all the land
to a great religious festival. The ark was to be established
in high honor within the walls of the new capital. At
the head of thirty thousand armed men to prevent all pos-
sibility of interruption, and accompanied by dancers and
singers innumerable, the king marched in procession to
Kirjath-jearim, and, securing the ark, set
out to escort it to Jerusalem.
,, ^^^W'
Iv-59
SECOND KINGS XIX — ISAIAH*S PROPHECY 091
a
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour,
and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the
swprd in his own land.
8 ^ So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring
against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold,
he is come out to fight against thee; he sent messengers again unto
Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying. Let
not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem
shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done
to all lands, by destroying them utterly : and shalt thou be delivered ?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers
have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children
of Eden which were in Thelasar ?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the
king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah ?
14 Tf And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the mes-
sengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the
Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God
of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God,
even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made
heaven and earth.
16 Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open. Lord, thine eves,
and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him
to reproach the living God.
17 Of a truth. Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations
and their lands,
18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods,
but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they nave
destroyed them.
19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us
out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that
thou art the Lord God, even thou only.
20 ^ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying. Thus
saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me
against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
21 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him;
The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed
thee to scorn ; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against
whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high ?
even against the Holy One of Israel.
692 SECOND KINGS XIX — THE ASSYRIAN ARMY DESTROYED
23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast
said. With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height
of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the
tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will
enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.'
24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of
my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
25 Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient
times that I have formed it ? now have I brought it to pass, that thou
shouldest be to lav waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were
dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and
as the ^reen herb, as the grass on the housetops, and cw com blasted
before it be grown up.
27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in,
and thy rage against me.
28 Because tny rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine
ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bndle in thy
lips, and I will turn tnee back by the wav by which thou camest.
29 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ve shall eat this year such
things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which
springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and
plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall
yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that
escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
32 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assvria,
He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and
shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and
for my servant David*s sake.
35 ^ And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord
went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred four-
score and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning,
behold, they were all dead corpses.'
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned,
and dwelt at Nineveh.
37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of
Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him
with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And
Esarhaddon his son reigned in nis stead.
iThe Revised Vendon reads *' and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of Us Cruttfol
field." >The American Revision reads ** behold, these were all dead bodies."
I ' >
I
r
i\ n
' /
• . I
• '
t • V
Uzi.
Wi}^s^ l^mfttett
BT THS DirrCH ABTIST, OTTMAR ELLIOER THS TOUNOEB*
*
And the anger of ike Lord woe kindled ogainH Uzattk,
and Ood emoie him therefor hie error; and there he died
by the ark ef Ood:*— 11. Sam^ 6, 7.
YET aU David's thirty thousand men proved insnf -
fident to bring the ark up to Jerusalem. It.
progress was not barred by hostile men, but by the
hand of God. The ancient Law of Moses had given
special directions for the carriage of this ark. It was to
be handled only by certain men of the Levites, and only
in a certain way. David had apparently fOTgotten these
laws, or had never known them. At any rate they were
nc^ected. The aik was placed upon an ox-cart, when it
should have been borne by hand. Moreover when at a
rough place in the road the oxen stumbled, the man Uzsah,
who was not a Levite at all, caught hold of the ark to guard
it from falling. Immediately he sank down dead.
The splendid procession halted in dismay. The joyous
music broke into wails and outcries of terror. Even
David himsdf was awed and frightened; hb purpose was
shaken. Men remembered the plague which had come
upon Israel when the ark was moved before, and the plagues
it had brought upon the Philistines. Should they bring
into their very capital this emblem of terror and of death ?
**So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city
of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-^dom
the Gittite.'
^^")
iv-60
&M
SECOND KINGS XX — THE SHADOW ON THE DIAL 693
Cfiopter 20
1 Heukiah, having received a mesaage of death, by prayer hath hit life lengthened. 8 The sun goeth ten degrees
backward for a sign of that promise. 12 Berodach-baladan, sending to visit Hezekiah because of the wander, hath
notice of his trecisures. 14 Isaiah understanding thereof foretelfeth the Babylonian captivtiy. 20 Manasseh
suoixedeth Hezekiah.
N those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet
Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto nim.
Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt
die, and not live.
2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord,
saying,
3 1 beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked
before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that
which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle
court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saving,
5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people. Thus
saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer,
I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou
shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.
6 And 1 will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver
thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will
<iefend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
7 And Isaiah said. Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid
it on the boil, and he recovered.
8 Tf And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that
the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the
Lord the third dav ?
9 And Isaiah said. This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that
the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow
go forward ten degress, or go back ten degrees ?
10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to
go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten
degrees.
il And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought
the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the
dial of Ahaz.
12 ^ At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of
Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard
that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the
house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices,
and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all
that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor
in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
14 ^ Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said
694 SECOND KINGS XX — THE BABYLONIAN ENVOYS
unto him. What said these men? and from whence came they imta
thee ? And Hezekiah said. They are come from a far country, even
from Babylon.
15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house ? And Heze-
kiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen:
there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed
them.
16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord,
17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that
which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried
into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt
beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace
of the king of Babylon.
19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord
which thou hast spoken. And he said. Is it not good, if peace and
truth be in mv days ?
20 Tf And tne rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and
how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought w^ater into the city^
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son
reigned in his stead.
Ciiapter 21
1 Manasseh*8 reign. 3 His great idolatry, 10 Hie wickedness eatiseth prophecies againsi Judah. 17 Anum
tucceedeth him. 19 Amon's wicked reign, 23 He being slain by his servants, and those murderers sUtin fry the
people, Josiah is made king.
ANASSEH wa^ twelve years old when he began to reign, and
reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name wa^ Hephzi-bah.
2 And he did that which wa^s evil in the sight of the Lord, after
the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the
children of Israel.
3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father
had destroyed; ana he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove,
as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven,
and served them.
4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord
said. In Jerusalem will I put my name.
5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts
of the house of the Lord.
6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times,
and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards:
he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke
him to anger.
7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made, in the
tCtie 9r% Prougfit to 3ttwuHtm
BT JOAN STRADAN OR STBADAinTS, A FLEMISH ABIIBT
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTUBT.
*
'* Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant ijf
the Lord vnth shouting, and vnth sound of the cornet^ and
vnth trumpets, and with oymbals, making a noise with
psalteries and harps" — I, Chron,, 15, 28.
FOR three months the dread and mysterious ark re-
mained in the house of Obed-edom. At first,
perchance, the household had been most unwilling
to give it shelter; but as time went on all men began to note
that Obed*s house prospered most marvelo'usly. The
fact was everywhere discussed, and attributed to the pres-
ence of the ark. So David and his priesthood conddered
carefully of the matter, and humbly recognized their former
fault of insufficient reverence to the holy ark. Once more
they resolved that the ark and its accompanying prosperi^
must centre in Jerusalem.
Again therefore a great procession set forth; and this
time the ark was handled according to all ancient laws.
Now there was no disaster. To the intense joy of David
and all his people, the ark advanced in safety and in splen-
dor, as in the days of Moses and of Joshua. It entered the
the gates of the city; and at once a great jubilation broke
forth. David himself set his people the example, singing
and dancing at the head of the procession. It was this
occasion which inspired some of his most splendid psalms.
iv-61
SECOND KINGS XXI — MANASSEH's IDOLATRY 695
house of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son.
In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the
tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the^
land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do accord-
ing to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the
law that my servant Moses commanded them.
9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do
more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the
<?hildren of Israel.
10 ^ And the Lord spake bv his servants the prophets, saying,
11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations,
<ind hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were
before him and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:
12 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am
bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth
of it, both his ears shall tingle.
13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the
plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man
"wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
14 And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver
them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey
and a spoil to all their enemies;
15 Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and
have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth
out ot Egypt, even unto tnis dav.
16 Moreover Manasseh shed mnocent blood very much, till he had
filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith
he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of
the Lord.
17 Tf Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did,
and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son
reigned in his stead.
19 ^ Amon wa^ twenty and two years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother s name vxis
MeshuUemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
20 And he did that tvhich was evil in the sight of the Lord, as
his father Manasseh did.
21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and
served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
22 And he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not
in the wav of the Lord.
696 SECOND KINGS XXII — THE LAW DISCOVERED
23 ^ And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew
the king in his own house.
24 And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired
against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son
king in his stead.
25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
26 And he was buried in the sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and
Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
Cfiapter 22
1 Josiah*B good reign. 3 He taketh care for the repair of the tempte. 8 HHkiah having found a book cf ike law,
Josinh senaelh to Huldah to inquire of the Lord. 15 Huldah prophesieih the detirvciion of Jerusalem, bid respite
thereof in Josiah's time.
OSIAII was eight years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And lus mother's
name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.*
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to
the right hand or to the left.
3 ^And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah^
that the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam,
the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying,
4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver
which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of
the door have gathered of the people:
5 And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work,
that have the oversight of the house of the Lord: and let them give
it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair
the breaches of the house,
6 Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber
and hewn stone to repair the house.
7 Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money
that was delivered into their hand, because thev dealt faithfully.
8 ^ And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I
have found the book of tne law in the house of the Lord. And
Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king
word again, and said. Thy servants have gathered the monev that
was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them
that do the work, and have the oversight of the house of the Ix)RD.
10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the
priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the
king.
I It was in Josiah '8 reign that the prophet Jeremiah began his mission. Also the prophet Zepfaaniab.
See their boolcs.
I 't
• 'I . ' •
> 1 I • . 1 ■ I
I
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I <
1 '11 '♦
:'(
1 •
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iHicfjal intani Babib
"Mickal, SavTi daughter, looked thrmigh a windotr, and
»aw king David leaping an ! dancing htfore the Lord; and
the degpiffd him in her heart.'" — //. Sam., 6, IG.
THE entrance of the ark into Jerusalem did not
pass without its tragedj, the ending of David's
earliest Io(e. In all his duvs of outlawry David
had never forgotten Jlichal. the fair jouiig wife who had
loved him and who had rescued him from Saul at so niuch
risk to herself. True, he knew that she had been given
to another husband, and he himself had es|>ouse<i other
wives, according to the custom of the East. But when he
had first been made king in Hebron, and when Abner the
general of northern Israel sou|;ht to treat with him, David's
opening demand, as a preliminary to all negotiation, tad
been that Michal should be restored to hint.
What Michal's feelings in the matter were is not wholij
clear. Her second husband parted from her with much
sorrow; and of her after-life with David we gel only one
glimpse. She despised the extravagance with which he
expressed his joy before all the people when the ark entered
Jerusalem. She thought he had disgraced his dignity;
and she met him on his return to the palace with scornful
words, David flared into passion, declared that no humil-
iation was too great before the Lord, and that he would
in the future seek honor and advice from othei't than the
daughter of the ungodly Siiul. "Therefore MJchol the
daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death."
W
susseafj^m^imi/mi^^-'^Mimt » asssaeaKeaajjSa
SECOND KINGS XXII — HULDAH's PROPHECY 697
11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of
the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the
son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the
scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying,
13 Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for
all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great
is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our
fathers have not hearkened unto the words of tnis book, to do accord-
ing unto all that which is written concerning us.
14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan,
and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum
the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now
she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) ^ ana they communed with her.
15 ^ And she said unto them. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Tell the man that sent you to me,
16 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place,
and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which
the king of Judah hath read:
17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto
other gods, that they might provoke me to an^er with all the works
of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kinaled against this place,
and shall not be quenched.
18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord,
thus shall ye say to him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As
touching the words which thou hast heard;
19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thvself
before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place,
and against the inhabitants thereof, that they shoula become a deso-
lation, and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me;
I also have heard thee^ saith the Lord.
20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou
shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not
see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought
the king word again.
Chapter 23
1 Jonah eauddh the book to be read in a solemn aseembly. 3 fie reneweth the covenant of the Lord. 4 He deHroyeth
idolatry. 15 He bumeth dead men's bones upon the altar of Beth-el, as toas fore-prophesied. 21 He ke^ a mod
solemn passnver. 24 He put avoay witches and all abomination. 26 God's flrial wrath against Judah. 29 Josiaht
pmvoking Pharaoh-nechm, is slam at Megiddo. 31 Jehoahaz, succeeding him is imprisoned by Pharaoh-neehoh^
vcho maae Jehoiakim king. 30 Jehoiakim's toicked reign.
ND the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders
of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the kinff went up into the house of the Lord, and
all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him.
'The Revised Version changes "college" to "second quarter.
fft
698 SECOND KINGS XXIII — ^JQSIAh's REFORMS
and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and
great : and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the cove«
nant which was found in the house of the Lord.
3 ^ And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before
the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments
and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their
soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this
book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 And the king commanded IClkiah the high priest, and the priests
of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out
of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal^
and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned
them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and "carried the ashes
of them unto Beth-el.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah
had ordainea to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah,
and in the places round about Jerusalem, them also that burned
incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets^
and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord^
without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook
Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof
upon the graves of the children of the people.
7 And ne brake down the houses of the sodomites that were by
the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and
defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from
Geba to Beer-sheba, and brake down the high places of the gates
that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the
city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the
altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but tnev did eat of the unleavened
bread among their brethren.
10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children
of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass
through the fire to Molech.
11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given
to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber
of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and
burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of
Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which
Manasseh had made m the two courts of the house of the Lord, did
the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the
dust of them into the brook Kidron.
t-"
Babtb pan!i( a Cemple
m
BT CIBO FERBI, A BOICAN ABTDST, DIED 1089-
+
**The king said unto Nathan the prophet^ See now^ I
dweU in a house cfCedar^ hut the ark qfGod dwdleth within
ewimna"—!!. Sam,^ 7, £.
WITH the aik secure in his possession in Jerusalem,
David planned a complete organization for his
kingdom. He reestablished Israel's ancient
religious worship on a new and firmer basis. He sum-
moned the priestlj dasses to his support, and assigned each
priest his duties. The ancient tabemade had after many
wanderings been established in the dij of Gibeon. There
the king let it remain under the charge of its high-priest
Zadok. The* monarch's real aim, however, was to make
Jerusalem the religious centre of the nation. Hence he
made the ark a shrine of worship even more important
than the tabernacle, and he created a high-priest of his
own, his loyal friend Abiathar, to rule the priesthood in
Jerusalem.
David also did much building in the land. He built
himself a palace; he greatly extended the walls of his
capital, and with the help of his nephew Joab rebuilt
much of the city itself. He then began to plan for what
was the dearest wish of his heart, to bufld a splendid temple
to the Lord, there on the mountain of Jerusalem. He
hoped thus to proclaim to all men the greatness of }us
faith and love toward God.
iv-63
SECOND KINGS XXIII — ^JOSIAH CLEANSES SAMARIA 699
13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were
on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the
king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the
Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and
for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king
defile.
14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves,
md filled their places with the bones of men.
15 ^ Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place
which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made,
both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the
high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the
grove.
18 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were
there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres,
and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the
word of the Lord wnich the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed
these words.
17 Then he said. What title is that that I see.? And the men of
the cihr told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came
from tiudah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against
the altar of Beth-el.
18 And he said. Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So
they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out
of oamaria.
19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities
of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD
to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the
acts that he had done in Beth-el.
20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there
upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned
to Jerusalem.
21 ^ And the king commanded all the people, saying. Keep the
passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this
covenant.
22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of
the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of
Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover
was holden to the liORD in Jerusalem.
24 % Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards,
and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were
spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away,
tnat he might perform the words of the law which were written
700 SECOND KINGS XXIII — THE EGYPTIAN INVASION
in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the
Lord.
25 And like unto him was there no kinff before him, that turned
to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his
might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there
any like him.
26 % Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of
his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah,
because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him
withal.
27 And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight,
as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this citv Jerusalem which
I have chosen, and the house of which I said. My name shall be
there.
28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they
■
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah }
29 ^ In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against
the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went
against him; and he slew him at ]SIegiddo, when he had seen
him.
30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo,
and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre.
And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and
anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.
31 ^ Jehoahaz loas twenty and three years old when he began to
reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, accord-
ing to all that his fathers had done.
33 And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land
of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land
to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34 And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in
the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to JehoiaBm,
and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.
35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but
he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment
of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the
land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaoh-
nechoh.
36 T[ Jehoiakim wa^ twenty and five years old when he began to
peign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did tliat which was evil in the sight of the Lord, accoixl-
ing to all that his fathers had done.
- • 't f*"'
■ / .
I ' * -rv ;j
u
1
L'^
.£ati)an :f ociiibii Sabib's PuUtiing
" Tkut »aiih the Lord, Thou »halt not inaid m* a ktnue
to dwell in."~I. Chron., 17, i.
AT FIRST the prophet Nathan approved gladly of
David's project to build a gorgeous temple. But
ag:aiii and agnin tlie Bible teaches ua that "the
Lord seeth not as man seeth." God came to Nathan in a
vision of the night, and bad« him take back his former
words and forbid the building of the temple. David had
been "a man of blood from his youth," driven to sore
fighting against many enemi«s. A temple built by him
would not only be founded in blood but must still be main-
tained by the shedding of blood in many wars. Let
David conquer Israel's enemies. Ue should have a son,
and this son, reared in peace, should build God's
So tliis word was brought to David, and he submitted to
God's will, thanking Him humbly for the promise to pre-
serve the kiogship in Daiid's fiimily. As the king said
gratefully in a prayer of gratitude, he had but planned a
small thing in building a house for God, hia reward was s
great tiling because God promised that Daiid'a house, his
family, should endure fore\-er. That promise we have
since understood lo mean that Hie Messiah waa to be born
of David's house.
^
SECOND KINGS XXIV — NEBUCHADNEZZAr's INVASION 701
Ctiapter 24
1 Jduriakim, ftrst subdued by Nebuehadnegzar, then rebelling against him, procureth his own ruin. 6 Jehoiaehin
suceeedeth him. 7 The king of Egypt is vanquished by the Kina of Babylon. 8 Jehoiaehin' s evil reign. 10 Jeru-
salem is taken and carried captive into Babylon. 17 Zedekim ts made king^ and reigneth ill unto the utter de-
struction of Judah.
his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and
Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned
and rebelled against him.^
2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands
of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children
of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to
the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
3 Surely at the commandment oi the Lord came this upon Judah,
to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according
to all that he did;
4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed : for he filled Jerusa-
lem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.
5 ^ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiacnin his son
reigned in his stead.
7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land :
for the king of Babylon nad taken from the river of Egypt unto the
river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.
8 % Jenoiachin was eiffhteen years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name
was Nehusnta, the daughter of El-nathan of Jerusalem.
9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according
to all that his father had done.
10 ^ At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came up against Jerusalem, and the citv was besieged.
11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city,
and his servants did besiege it.
12 And Jehoiaehin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon,
he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers :
and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the
Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the
vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple
of the Lord, as the Lord had said.
14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and
all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the
craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the
people of the land.
We are told that among the hostages taken by Nebuchadnezzar after this rebellion was the youth
Dtoiel, whose history is given In the book or Daniel.
702 SECOND KINGS XXV — ZEDEKIAh's DOWNFALL
15 Ana he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's
mother, and the king's \i4ves, and his oflScers, and the mighty of the
land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.*
16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen
and smiths a thousand, all thai were strong and apt for war, even
them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
17 ^ And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah fiis father's brother
king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah wa^ twenty and one years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name
was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
19 And he did that which wa^ evil in the sight of the Lord, accord-
ing to all that Jehoiachin had done.
20 For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem
and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah
rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Chapter 25
1 Jerusalem U besieged. 4 Zedekiah taken, his stms alain, his eyes nut out. 8 Ndmsar-adan defaeeih the e^,
earrieth the remnorU, except a few poor labourers, into captivity, 13 spouHh and earrieth away the treasures. 18 The
nobles are slain at RiUah. 22 Gedaliah, who waa set over them thai remained, being slain, the rest flee into EgypL
27 Evil-merodaeh advancdh Jehoiachin in his court.
ND it came to pass in the ninth year of his rei^n, in the tenth
month, in the tenth day of the month, that Jfebuchadnezzar
kinff of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem,
and pitchea against it; and they built forts against it round about.
2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed
in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
4 Tf And the city was broken up,* and all the men of war fled by
night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the
king's garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:)
SLndthe king went the way toward the plain.
5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and over-
took him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered
from him.
6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon
to Riblah; and they gave judgment upjon him.
7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put
out the eyes of 2fedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and
carried him to Babvlon.
8 % And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which
is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of
Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
lit was at Babylon durin? the captivity of Jehoiachin tliat the prophet Ezeldel beeui his missioB.
See the book of Ezekid. 'The Revised Version says " Then a breach was made in the city."
iHoaii iHeiutareb for Seatt
BT J. JAMIS TDSSOT. REPRODUCED BT COUBTEST OF
THE AMERICAN TIS80T SOCIETT OF NEW TORK«
*
"Even with two lines measured he to 'put to deaths and
with oneftdl line to keep aliveJ'* — IL Sam., 8, 2.
IN FULFILLMENT of God's warning, David did
indeed find himself involved in further wars. Once
more the Philistines came against him; and this time
he was himself brought dose to death bj a giant warricv
of theirs. He was saved by his nephew Abishai. Feeling
thdr ruler's life too precious to be hazarded, David's
generab thereafter persuaded him to keep out of battle.
Thus more and more he ceased to be the fighting leader*
and became the governing monarch.
He seems to have subdued the Philistines oompletdj,
capturing their chief city and making them tributary to
Israel. Next came a war against the Moabites. Jewish
tradition says that David's father and mother, whom he
had established in Moab, were cruelly murdered there, and
that he attacked the country to avenge them. Certainly
his conduct toward the vanquished was very different
from his liberal treatment of the Philistines. Ail the cap-
tured men of Moab were made to lie upon the ground* and
were there separated into three lines, of which two lines
were immediately put to death. The grim savagery of the
vengeance seems almost too horrible for modem thou^t,
espedaUy when we recall that David himself had been
sheltered for a time in Moab. Commentators, as a partial
excuse for the holocaust, suggest the persistency and
cruelty of the Moabite raids into Palestine.
w
iv-65
IV--4G— Copjrlcbc, ISM, bj U. de Bninca.
SECOND KINGS XXV — DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM 70S
9 And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and
all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great marCs house burnt he
with fire.
10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain
of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the
fugitives that fell away to tne Kii^ of Babylon, with the remnant of
the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan tne captain of the guard carry away.
12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be
vine-dressers ana husbandmen.
13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord,
and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the Lord,
did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to
Babylon.
14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons,
and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
15 And the firepans, and the bowls, avd such things as were of
gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took
away.
16 The two pillars, one sea, and the bases w^hich Solomon had
made for the house of the Lord; the brass of all these vessels was
without weight.
17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter
upon it was brass: and the height of tne chapiter three cubits; and
the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about,
all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen
work.
18 ^ And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest,
and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
19 Aiid out of the city he took an officer that w^as set over the men
of war, and five men of them that were in the king*s presence, which
were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which
mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people
of the land that were found in the city:
20 And Nebuzar-adan captain of the guard took these, and brought
them to the king of Babylon to Riblah:
21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah
in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried awav out of their land.
22 \ And as for the people that remained in tne land of Judah,
whom Nebuchadnezzar k:ing of Babylon had left, even over them he
made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler.
23 And when all the captains of the armies, thev and their men,
heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there
came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah,
And Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth
704
SECOND KINGS XXV — THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and
their men.
34 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto
them. Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees; dwell in the land,
and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you.
25 But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son
of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten
men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and
the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah.
26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of
the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the
Chaldees.
27 Tl And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the
captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the
seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of
Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of
Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;
28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne
of the kings that were with him in Babylon;
29 And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread con-
tinually before him all the days of his life.
30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the
king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his nfe.
BabtVie; ^nAaHisaMKH SnieiaUeb
FBOM TH£ BIBUCAL
BT GEBBARD HOET.
** Wherefore Hanun took David's servanis, and shaved
off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in
the middled— II, Sam,, 10, 4
NO EXACT chronological record of David's forefgn
wars can be established; but most of them seem
to belong to the earlier portion of his reign. Nor
do anj of them, except perhaps that against Moab, seem
to have been aggressive wars. The sunounding nations
had known Israel in her weakness, and had plundered and
oppressed her. David had to teach them her strength.
Thus, for instance, after he had conquered Moab, he
sent a friendly embassy to the other nation on his eastern
boundary, the Ammonites. Their king had just died and
been succeeded by his son. ''Then said David, I will
shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his
father shewed kindness imto me. And David sent to
comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father.**
The new king Hanun, however, suspected these ambas-
sadors of being really spies; so he insulted them grossly,
half shaved them, and sent them back to Israel in a con-
dition the most d^rading conceivable to oriental dignity.
Thence, of course, there arose another war and more
fierce battles, in which David's general Joab led the
Israelites to decisive victory.
iv-66
Sntrolittcttim to tte Sivsst JRotA ot CtrontdeK
The two books of Chronicles, like those of Samuel and Kings, were originally one, and
were first divided, probably by the Greek translators, for the sake of convenience. Their
name in Hebrew is Dibhere kayyamim, which means literally ** the acts of the days," in other
words, records or chronicles. The Christian fathers called them in Latin, Chronica, whence
comes our English name.
The author of the books according to Hebrew tradition, was Ezra the scribe, the central
figure of the Book of Ezra, which forms a continuation of Chronicles. A careful examina-
tion of the books themselves suggests for them a somewhat later date than Ezra, who lived
in the fifth century B.C., and the prevalent opinion is that they were composed in the third
century at a period subsequent to the Grecian conquests of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.).
The section of the Scripture which extends from Chronicles through Esther, was the last
admitted by the Hebrews into their *' canon" or body of holy writings, so that these books
are perhaps the most recent in date among all those of the Old Testament.
In contents, the books cover the same period as the earlier portion of the Bible. The
aim of the Chronicler is to give an account of the temple and its cult. He writes therefore
ecclesiastical history; but he writes it not for the sake of the history but in order to inculcate
fiddity to the law and ritual of Jehovah. He connects the history of the temple with the
preceding records by means of the genealogical lists of the tribes, to which is prefixed in
chapter one a history of the times from Adam to Jacob in the form of a genealogical list
The first nine chapters are thus little more than lists of names. In this way the temple is
given its place in the historical development.
From chapters 10 to 29 a history of David is given. The Chronicler omits everything
that does not bear on his immediate purpose. Thus, in the story of David, many things are
left out which had been given prominence in. the narrative of the books of Samuel and
Kings, and David is presented especially in his connection with the temple.
A number of sources, which the Chronicler made use of, are mentioned in the books;
it is, however, probable that these sources were all portions of one large work, which he re-
fers to as the Afidrash of the book of Kings. A Midrash is an exposition of certain Scripture
passages, with a moral or religious purpose, especially in the form of religious stories which
illustrate some moral or religious lesson.
705
THE FIRST BOOK OF THE
Ctronttltjf
Ciiaptcr I
ton* of Japhtlh. 8 Tht ton* of Ham. 17 Tht tout of Sken. M Sktm't hmt
J, 3? nil! •on* of Ktturah. 34 Tke viMtrUv of AbraJumt bf Swu. 13 Tki
fc&Wt of Bdam. SI Tht duta ol Edam.
^DAM. Sheth, Enosh,
2 Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered,
3 Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech,
4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
5 1 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magoe,
and Sladai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshecb,
and Tiras.
6 And the sons of Gomer; Ashchenaz, and Rip-
}iath, and Togarmah.
7 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish,
Kittim, and Dodanim.*
8 ^ The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
9 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raa-
mah, and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
10 And Cush begat Nimrod : he began to be mighty upon the earth.
11 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and
Naphtuhim,
IS And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines,)
and Caphthorim.
13 And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth,
14 The Jebusite also, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite,
15 And the Hivite. and the Arkite, and the Sinite.
16 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.
17 Tf The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and
Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.
»K
W^t €mptre of Jiettrael
««
FROM THE BIBLICAL SERIES BT RAPHAEL IN THE
LOGGIA OF THE VATECAK.
^And when all the kings that were eervanie to Hadarezer
eaw that they were emitter, before lerod^ they made peace
with lerad and served them**^II. Sam,^ 10, 19.
TfiE Ammonites, while waning against Joab, secured
many allies, until finally Israel was confronted
by a powerful confederacy headed by the Syrian
king Hadareser, and including not only Syria and Ammon,
but most of the desert tribes, and even some of the people
of the Euphrates Talley. In this emergen<7 David him-
self took the field once more. The defence against the
desert tribes he entrusted to Joab and Abishai, who "slew
of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand."
Meanwhile King David, at the head of the chief host of
Israel, invaded Syria and defeated Hadarexer's forces in
a huge battle at Helam, a spot whose exact location is
lost
Helam was David's greatest victoiy; indeed it might be
not inappropriatdy counted among the decisive battles
of the worid; for it established the Hebrew empire, and
gave the race an opportunity to develop in peace, to form
a civilization and a literature, and prepare the way for
the Messiah. Darid was now not only ruler of Palestine
but seems to have been the 'overlord of all the land from
the Euphrates to the deserts of Egypt. He returned from
Syria laden down with the richest spoil, and his entry into
Jerusalem was a triumphal procession. From a worldly
viewpoint he stood at the zenith of his career.
iv-67
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FIRST CHRONICLES I — ^THE EARLY GENERATIONS 707
18 And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber.
19 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one Wds
Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's
name was Joktan.
20 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth,
and Jerah,
21 Hadoram also, and Uzal, and Diklah,
22 And Ebal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
23 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons
of Joktan.
24 ^ Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah,
25 Eber, Peleg, Reu,
26 Serug, Nahor, Terah,
27 Abram; the same is Abraham.
28 The sons of Abraham; Isaac, and Ishmael.
29 ^ These are their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Ne-
baioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,
30 Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema,
31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.
32 ^ Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bare
Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and
Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan.
33 And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Henoch, and
Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons of Keturah.
34 And Abraham begat Isaac. The sons of Isaac; Esau and Israel.
35 ^ The sons of Esau; Eliphaz, Reuel, and Jeush, and Jaalam,
and Korah.
36 The sons of Eliphaz; Teman, and Omar, Zephi, and Gatam,
Xenaz, and Timna, and Amalek.
37 The sons of Reuel ; Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and IVIizzah.
38 And the sons of Seir; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,
and Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan.
39 And the sons of Lotan; Hori, and Ilomam: and Timna wa^
Lotan's sister.
40 The sons of Shobal; Alian, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shephi,
and Onam. And the sons of Zibeon: Aiah, and x^nah.
41 The sons of Anah; Dishon. And the sons of Dishon; Amram,
and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
42 The sons of Ezer; Bilhan, and Zavan, and Jakan. The sons
of Dishan; Uz, and Aran.
43 ^ Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom
before any king reigned over the children of Israel; Bela the son of
Beor: anci the name of his city was Dinhabah.
44 And when Bela was dead, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah
reigned in his stead.
708 FIRST CHRONICLES I — RULERS OP EDOM
45 And when Jobab was dead, Husham of the land of the Teman-
ites reigned in his stead.
46 And when Husham was dead, Hadad the son of Bedad, which
smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead : and the name
of his city was Avith.
47 And when Hadad was dead, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in
his stead.
48 And when Samlah was dead, Shaul of Rehoboth by the river
reigned in his stead.
49 And when Shaul was dead, Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned
in his stead.
50 And when Baal-hanan was dead, Hadad reigned in his stead:
and the name of his city was Pai; and his wife's name wa^ MehetabeU
the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
51 t Hadad died also. And the dukes of Edom were; duke Tim-
nah, duke Aliah, duke Jetheth,
52 Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
53 Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,
54 Duke Magdiel, duke Iram. These are the dukes of Edom.
Chapter 2
1 The aon$ of Itrad, 3 7*Ae potteriiy of Judah by Tamar. 13 The diOdren of Jeeae. 18 The poaterity of Cald^
the «m of Uetron. 21 Hezron'e posterity by the daughter of Machir. 25 JerahmetVe poaterity. 34 ShetkaiCa
posterity. 42 Another branch of Caieb'a poaterity. 50 The poaterity of Caleb the aon of Hur.
HESE are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and
Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,
2 Dan, Joseph, and Beniamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
3 ^ The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three
were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And
Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the Lord; and he
slew him.
4 And Tamar his daughter-in-law bare him Pharez and Zerah*
All the sons of Judah were five.
5 The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul.
6 x\nd the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and
Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.
7 And the sons of Carmi ; Achar, the. troubler of Israel, who trans-
gressed in the thing accursed.
8 And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.
9 The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel,
and Ram, and Chelubai.
10 And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon,
prince of the children of Judah;
11 And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma b^at Boaz,
12 And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jfesse.
.!" ■.
W^ StntnimtteK Horrotoeli
FBOM THE BIBLICAL BERIEB BT OU8TA.V£ DOr£.
'*And he brought out the people and etd
them ivUh eawa^ and viith harrows of iron, and with axes.** —
/. Chron., £0, S.
THOSE were wild and terrible dajB in which David
lived. To his own times he seemed mild and
merciful; but to modem hearts some deeds of his
reign seem of imthinkable severity. While his triumph
over the Syrians made him the chief ruler of the r^on,
there must have been many walled cities which refused him
submission. Chief among these was Rabbah, the capital
of the Ammonites, whose king had so insulted Israel's
ambassadors. David seems to have res<^ved to make a
terrible example of Ammon. He sent Joab to lay dose
siege to Rabbah; and when the time had come for the final
assault, the monarch himself joined his army and was
present at the taking of the dty. The Ammonites who
were captured were put to death with savage brutality
by David's express command.
Commentators on the Bible have argued about this
passage, which occurs both in Samuel and in Chronides.
Some students think or hope the meaning is that the pris-
oners were put to work with saws and harrows. But the
grimmer statement that they were slain by such implements
not only stands in the Bible text but is in harmony with
David's savagely against the Moabites. He may have
thought it necessary to let the subject natiooB know how
terribly he meant to punish all rebellion.
^v\\
lv-68
FIRST CHRONICLES II — THE HOUSE OF JUDAH 709
IS ^ And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second,
:and Shimma the third.
14 Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,
15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:
16 Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of
Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Ashel, three.
17 And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether
the Ishmeelite.
18 t And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his
wife, and of Jerioth : her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.
19 And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath,
which bare him Hur.
20 'And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel.
21 \ And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of ]Machir, the
father of Gilead, whom he married when he was threescore years old;
-and she bare him Segub.
22 And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the
land of Gilead.
23 And he took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from
them, with Kenath, and the towns thereof, even threescore cities.
All these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.
24 And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephratah, then Abiah
Hezron's wife bare him Ashur the father of Tekoa.
25 ^ And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were. Ram
the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah.
26 Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name was Atarah; she
was the mother of Onam.
27 And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were, Maaz,
and Jamin, and Eker.
28 And the sons of Onam were, Shammai, and Jada. And the
sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur.
29 And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail, and she bare
him Ahban, and Molid.
30 And the sons of Nadab; Seled, and Appaim: but Seled died
without children.
31 And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan.
And the children of Sheshan; Ahlai.
32 And the sons of * Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether, and
Jonathan : and Jether died without children.
33 And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the
sons of Jerahmeel.
34 ^ Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan
had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name wa^s Jarha.
35 And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife;
and she bare him Attai.
710 FIRST CHRONICLES II — THE CHILDREN OP CALEB
36 And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad,
37 And Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed,
38 And Obed begat Jenu, and Jehu begat Azariah,
39 And Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah,
40 And Eleasah begat Sisamai, and Sisamai begat Shallum,
41 And Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekami^ begat Elishama.
42 ^ Now the sons of Caleb the brother of JerahmeeT were^ Mesha
his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah
the father of Hebron.
43 And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem,,
and Shema.
44 And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkoam: and Rekem
begat Shammai.
45 And the son of Shammai was Maon: and Maon wa^ the father
of Beth-zur.
46 And Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and
Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez.
47 And the sons of Jahdai ; Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and
Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph.
48 Maachah, Caleb's concubine, bare Sheber, and Tirhanah.
49 She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the
father of Machbenah, ana the father of Gibea: and the daughter of
Caleb was Achsa.
50 t These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of
Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjath-jearim,
51 Salma the father of Beth-lehem, Hareph the father of Beth-
gader.
52 And Shobal the father of Kirjath-jearim, had sons; Haroeh,
and half of the Manahethites.
53 And the families of Kirjath-jearim; the Ithrites, and the Puhites,
and the Shumathites, and the ]Mishraites; of them came the Zareath-
ites, and the Eshtualites.
54 The sons of Salma; Beth-lehem, and the Netophathites, Ataroth,.
the house of Joab, and half of the Manahethites, tne Zorites.
55 'And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirath-
ites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that
came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.
Ctiapter 3
1 The 90M of David. 10 HU line to Zedekiah, 17 The eucce^aors of Jeconiah.
OW these were the sons of David, which were bom unto him
in Hebron: the firstborn Amnon; of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;
^ ,, the second Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;
2 The third, Absalom the son of Maachah the daughter of Talmai
king of Geshur: the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith:
!. »
I
II
I
n-:'
l^.
• J
•l
Babtb'K tEemjptatton
BT FRANCISCO MAIOTTO, AN EIGHTEENTH CENTUR7
ITALIAN ARTIST.
**And it came to pass in an eveninglide, that David
arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the
king*s house** — II. Sam,, 11, 2.
WE TURN now from David's triumphs as a mon-
arch to his trials as a man. His later life was
clouded heavily with scmtow; and this sorrow
sprang, as most sorrows do, from passion and from sin.
David, following the custom of the East, had wedded
several wives, nor does he ever seem to have oonsidared
this blameworthy. To one of these wives at least, his
first wife Michal, he had been tenderly attached. But
he and Michal had become estranged; and no one of
his other wives, not even the wise and gentle Abigail had
filled his heart
Then there came to him the great temptation of his life.
One summer evening, welcoming the change from the
noontide heat. King David walked upon the high roof of
his new palace; and in the sheltered court of a neighboring
house he saw a woman being bathed by her attendants*
The position was secluded, the act a customary one in
Palestine for securing relief from the overwhelming sum-
mer heat But to King David the chance was unfortunate.
The woman was beautiful; the man felt moved to love
her. He enquhred who she was, and learned to his dismay
that she was already married. She was Bathsheba, the
granddaughter of the king's wisest counsellor Ahithophel.
and the wife of one of the noblest warriors of the army,
Uriah the Hittite.
■-^■.
^
iv-69
FIRST CHRONICLES III — THE SONS OF DAVID 711
^ 3 The fifth, Shephatiah of Abital : the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah
his wife.
4 These six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned '
seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and
three years.
5 And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab,^
and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath-shua* the daughter of
Ammiel :
6 Ibhar also, and Elishama, and Eliphelet,
7 And Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
8 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine.
9 These were all the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines^
and Tamar their sister.
10 ^ And Solomon's son was Rehoboam, Abia his son, Asa his son^
Jehoshaphat his son,
11 Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
12 Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
13 Ahaz his son, Hczekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
14 Amon his son, Josiah his son.
15 And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second'
Jehpiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.
16 And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeeoniah his son, Zedekiah
his son.
17 T[ And the sons of Jeeoniah;^ Assir, Salathiel his son,
18 Malchiram also, and Pedaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Ho-
shama, and Nedabiah.
19 And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the
sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith their
sister:
20 And Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah,.
Jushab-hesed, five.
21 And the sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jesaiah: the sons of
Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of She-
chaniah.
22 And the sons of Shechaniah; Shemaiah: and the sonsofShema-
iah; Hattush, and Igeal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat,.
six.
23 And the sons of Neariah; Elioenai, and Hezekiah, and Azrikam,
threes.
24 And the sons of Elioenai were^ Hodaiah, and Eliashib, and
Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Dalaiah, and Anani,
seven.
^Bath-shua was the same as the favorite Bath-sheba. 'The name Asslr is a mere epithet applied to*
Jeeoniah. It means "the captive." See the Revised Version.
712 FIBST CHRONICLES IV — ^JUDAh's LINE
1. 11 The posterity ofjudah by Caleb the son of Hvr. 5 Of Ashvr the potihumous ton qfHeanm. 0 Of Jabet^
4ind his vrayer. 21 The posterity of Shelah, 24 The posterity and cities of Simeon. 39 Their conquest of Gsior,
4ind of the Amalekites in mount Seir.
HE sons of Judah; Pharez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and
Shobal.
2 And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath; and Jahath
begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites.
3 And these were of the father pf Etam; Jezreel, and Ishma, and
Idbash: and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi:
4 And Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah.
These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father
of Beth-lehem.
5 ^ And Ashnr the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and
Naarah.
6 And Naarah bare him Ahuzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and
Haahashtari. These tvere the sons of Naarah.
7 And the sons of Helah were^ Zereth, and Jezoar, and Ethnan.
8 And Coz begat Anub, and Zobebah, ana t^ie families of Aharhel
the son of Harum.
9 ^ And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his
mother called his name Jabez, saying. Because I bare him .M-ith
sorrow,
10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou
wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand
might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it
may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
11 ^ And Chelub the brother of Shuah begat Mehir, which was
the father of Eshton.
12 And Eshton begat Beth-rapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the
father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Rechah.
13 And the sons of Kenaz; Othniel, and Seraiah: and the sons of
Othniel; Hathath.
14 And Meonothai begat Ophrah; and Seraiah begat Joab, the
father of the valley of Charashim; for they were craftsmen.
15 And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh; Iru, Elah, and
Naam: and the sons of Elah, even Kenaz.
16 And the sons of Jehaleleel; Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asareel.
17 And the sons of Ezra were^ Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and
Jalon : and she bare Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of
Eshtemoa.
18 And his wife Jehudijah bare Jered the father of Gedor, and
Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And
these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered
took.
Qgatnitt Ibioti
BT OOVAEBT TLINCK, A DUTCH MASTER, DIED 1600.
THE ORIGINAL IS IN THE DRESDEN BOTAL GALI.ERT.
**And it came to pass in the morning, thai David wroie
a letter to Joab^ and sent it by the hand qf Uriak** — II. Sam,t
n 14.
DAVID wooed the fair Batbsheba and won her to
his passion. Then he sent for her husband
Uriah, who was a oommander in the army under
Joab besieging the dtj of Rabbah. Uriah, a splendid*
straightforward, manly chieftain, proved too honest to take
part in or even to suspect the criminal purposes of the king;
so David determined that Uriah must die. With a duplic-
ity, truly oriental, he sent the brave and unsuspecting
husband back to the army as bearer of a missive command-
ing his own death. This letter was 'addressed to the gen-
end, Joab, saying, *'Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the
hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be
smitten and die."
Nothing loath to becoming the sharer of some guilty
secret with the king, Joab set Uriah in the lead of a foriom
hope. Doubtless the yoimg man thought he was receiving
high honor in being made first a messenger of the king and
now chieftain of an assault. The men of Rabbah rushed
out against him, and he was slain.
When the news reached Jerusalem, Bathsheba performed
all the ceremonies of mourning for her husband, nor in-
deed does she seem to have had part in the black secret of
his death. Yet she must at heart have felt relief at being
freed from him; and as soon as the period of her mourning
was ended she was publidy wedded to the kiqg.
iv-70
FIRST CHRONICLES IV — ^JUDAh's LIKE 713
19 And the sons of his wife Hodiah the sister of Naham^ the father
of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maachathite.
20 And the sons of Shimon werCy Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben-hanan,
and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi werCy Zoheth, and Ben-zoheth.
21 ^ The sons of Shelah the son of Judah werCy Er the father of
X«eeah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the
house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea,
22 And Jokim, and the men of Chozeba, and Joash, and Saraph,
who had the dominion in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And tnese
are ancient things.
23 These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and
hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work.^
24 ^ The sons of Simeon were^ Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah,
and Shaul:
25 Shallum his son, IMibsam his son, Mishma his son.
26 And the sons of Mishma; Hamuel his son, Zacchur his son,
Shimei his son.
27 And Shimei had sixteen sons and six dauj?hters ; but his brethren
had not many children, neither did all their mmily multiply, like to
the children of Judah.
28 And they dwelt at Beer-sheba, and Moladah, and Hazar-shaul,
29 And at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad,
30 And at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag,
31 And at Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susim, and at Beth-birei,
and at Shaaraim. These were their cities unta the reign of David.
32 And their villages werey Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen,
and Ashan, five cities:
33 And all their villages that were round about the same cities,
unto Baal. These were their habitations, and their genealogy.
34 And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah,
35 And Joel, and Jehu the son of Josibiah, the son of Seraiah, the
son of Asiel,
36 And Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah,
and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah,
37 And Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of AUon, the son of Jedaiah,
the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah;
38 These mentioned by their names were princes in their families:
and the house of their fathers increased greatly.
39 % And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east
side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
40 And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide,
and quiet, and peaceable; tor they of Ham had dwelt there of old.
41 And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king
>In the Revised Version this yerse reads, ** These were the potters, and the Inhabitants of Netalm and
Gederab: there they dwelt," etc.
714 FIRST* CHRONICLES V — THE TRIBE OF REUBEN
of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that were found
there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their
rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks.
42 And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred
men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and
Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.
43 And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped^
and dwelt there unto this day.
Ctiopter 5
I The line of Reuhm (vho lost his hirihrighO unto the captivity. 9 Their habitation and eonquai of Ae Hagantes^
I I The chie( men and habitatUme of Gad. 18 The number and conquest of Reuben, Gad, and the half of ManoMeh^
23 The habitations and chief men of that half tribe. 25 Their captivity for their sin.
OW the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the
firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his
birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel :
and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the
chief ruler; but Ine birthright was Joseph's:)
3 The sons, / say^ of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were^ Hanoch^
and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
4 The sons of Joel ; Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,
5 Micah his son, Reaia his son, Baal his son,
6 Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried
away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites.
7 Ana his brethren oy their families, when the genealogy of their
generations was reckoned, were the chief, Jeiel, ana 2^hanah,
8 And Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who
dwelt in Aroer, even unto Nebo and Baal-meon:
9 And eastward he inhabited unto the entering in of the ^-ildemess
from the river Euphrates: because their cattle were multiplied in the
land of Gilead.
10 And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites, who
fell by their hand : and they dwelt in their tents throughout all the east
land of Gilead.
11 ^ And the children of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land
of Bashan unto Salcah:
12 Joel the chief, and Shapham the next, and Jaanai, and Shaphat
in Bashan.
13 And their brethren of the house of their fathers were^ ]\Gchael,.
and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jachan, and Zia, and
Heber, seven.
14 These are the children of Abihail the son of Huri, the son of
Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of ^Michael, the son of Jeshishai,
the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz;
/
Jtatlian'K Arable
I'^y
BT J. NAI]I(ANN, A CONTEMPORAST GEBMAK ILLCB-
TBATOB.
*'There were two men in one city; ike one rich, and fhs
other poor "--I I. Saw., 1£, 1.
HOW fuUy the secret of Dand's crime leaked out
among his people we do not know. No man
daied publicly rebuke him;and Batbshebaiemained
his honored wife, the mother of his successor Solomon.
Yet the thing was whispered among some, or perhaps
directly revealed by God to one, the prophet Nathan.
And Nathan, despite all the danger of braving the king
and perhaps bring slain to preserve the secret,
resolved to rebuke David's guilt For this purpose he
appealed to David in private to decide for him a case at
law. He told the king a parable of a poor man who pos-
sessed but one ewe lamb, dearly loved by him and by his
children. From this poor man, a rich and powerful neigh-
bor, having many flocks, rent away the one ewe Iamb, and
made a feast therewith.
David fell easily into the trap thus laid for him. His
righteous anger was aroused against the grasping rich man
who, while possessing so much, had yet stolen his neigfabor'a
only joy. "As the Lord liveth,'* cried out the king, '*the
man that hath done this thing shall surely die ... .
because he had no pity." Thus the king stood self-con-
victed and self-judged. He, with his many wives, had
taken Uriah's only treasure. Nathan flashed
out upon him with pointing finga*,
"Thou art the man."
iv-71
FIRST CHRONICLES V — REUBEN's WARS 715
15 Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of the house of their
fathers.
16 And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in her towns, and in
all the suburbs of Sharon, upon their borders.
17 All these were reckonea by genealogies in the days of Jotham
king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.
18 ^ The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of
Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and
to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand
seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.
19 And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetiu*, and Nephish,
And Nodab.
20 And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were
delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried
to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put
their trust in him.
21 And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand,
and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thou-
sand, and of men an hundred thousand.
22 For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God.
And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.
23 ^ And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the
land: they increased from Bashan unto Baal-hermon and Senir, and
unto mount Hermon.
24 And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even
Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah,
and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, and heads of the house
of their fathers.
25 t And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and
went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God
destroyed before them.
26 And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria,
and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them
away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of
Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara,
and to the river Gozan, unto this day.
Cfiapter 6
1 Th€ aoM cf Levi. 4 The line of the priests unto the ca^ivity. 16 Tfie families of Oershcm, Merari, and KohaOi.
49 The office of Aaron, and his line unto Ahimaaz, 54 The cities of the priests anaLevites.
HE sons of Levi; Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
2 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, and Hebron,
and Uzziel.
3 And the children of Amram; Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam.
The sons also of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
716 FIRST CHRONICLES VI — THE TRIBE OF LEVI
4 ^ Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua,
5 And Abishua begat Bukld, and Bukki Tbegat Uzzi,
6 And Uzzi begat Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begat Meraioth»
7 Meraioth begat Amaiiah, and Amariah begat Ahitub,
8 And Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Ahimaaz,
9 And Ahimaaz begat Azariah, and Azariah oegat Johanan,
10 And Johanan begat Azariah, (he it is that executed the priest's
office in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem :)
11 And Azanah begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub,
12 And Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Shallum,
13 And Shallum begat Hilkiah, and Hilkiah begat Azariah,
14 And Azariah begat Seraiah, and Seraiah begat Jehozadak,
15 And Jehozadak went into captivity y when the Lord carried
away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
16 ^ The sons of Levi; Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
17 And these be the names of the sons of Gershom; Libni, and
Shimei.
18 And the sons of Kohath were, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron,
and Uzziel.
19 The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. And these are the
families of the Levites according to their fathers.
SO Of Gershom; Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son,
21 Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeaterai his son.
22 The sons of Kohath; Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir
his son,
23 Elkanah his son, and Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son,
24 Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his
son.
25 And the sons of Elkanah: Amasai, and Ahimoth.
26 As for Elkanah: the sons of Elkanah; Zophai his son, and
Nahath ms son,
27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.
28 And the sons of Samuel ; the firstborn Vashni, and Abiah.
29 The sons of Merari : Mahli ; Libni his son, Shimei his son,Uzza
his son,
30 Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.
31 And these are they whom David set over the service of song in
the house of the Lord, after that the ark had rest.
32 And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle
of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house
of the Lord in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their oflfice accord-
ing to their order.
33 And these are they that waited with their children. Of the
sons of the Kohathites: Heman a singer, the son of Joel, the son of
Shemuel,
Sobtti'K ISLepentonce
BY JOSEPH F0HRICR, A BOREillAN ABlierr OF THE
NAZABINE SCHOOL.
**And David said uhio Nathan, I have rirmed againai
the Lordr—II. Sam^ 12, 13.
DAVID'S great crime, or rather his double crime of
adultery and murder, had not been coidlj pre-
meditated. It had sprung in the first place from .
passion, and afterward from a real and lasting affection for
Bathsheba, which made him desire to save her from the
consequences of their guilt Thus black as was his sin*
it was not of that blackest kind conceived in stubborn
selfishness and deliberate hardening of the heart It is
true that his sin was coincident in time with that savage
punishment which he inflicted on the Ammonites; and ao
we must mark this period of David's life as altogether one
of deep moral degradation. Yet the warm-hearted king
was stUl a servant of God, he still preferred right to wrong.
He was still, when not under the sway of passion, a lover
of gentleness and truth. Hence he was peculiarly suscep-
tible to remorse. Nathan's parable touched him home;
and with a great cry of shame he humbled himself, entreat*
ing aid and mercy from the Lord, who had loved him.
That is all God asks of man, contrition, that he shall
recognize his sin, set his face wholly against it submit
himself to God's guidance and make such atonement as
he can. At once Nathan gave the king that di\'inely re-
assuring response. "The Lord also hath put away thy
sin; thou shnlt not die," that is, die to goodness, and
religious hope, and the love of God. Despite David's
crime he was still "a man after Grod's own heart"
iv-72
FIKST CHRONICLES VI — AARON's SONS 717
34 The son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of EUel, the
son of Toah,
35 The son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the
son of Amasai,
36 The son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son
of Zephaniah,
37 The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the
son of Korah,
38 The son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of
Israel.
39 And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, even Asaph
the son of Berachiah, the son of Shimea,
40 The son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchiah,
41 The son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah,
42 The son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei,
43 The son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi.
44 And their brethren the sons of jMerari stood on the left hand:
Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,
45 The son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah,
46 The son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shamer,
47 The son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son
of Levi.
48 Their brethren also the Levites were appointed unto all manner
of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.
49 ^ But Aaron and his sons offered upoti the altar of the burnt
offering, and on the altar of incense, and were appointed for all
the work of the pZoce most holy, and to make an atonement for
Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had com-
manded.
50 And these are the sons of Aaron; Eleazar his son, Phinehas his
son, Abishua his son,
51 Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son,
52 Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son,
53 Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son.
54 ^ Now these are their dwelling places throughout their castles
in their coasts, of the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites:
for theirs was the lot.
55 And they gave them Hebron in the land of Judah, and the
suburbs thereof round about it.
56 But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, they gave
to Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
57 And to the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of Judah, namely^
Hebron, the city of refuge, and Libnah with her suburbs, and Jattir,
and Eshtemoa, with their suburbs,
58 And Hilen with her suburbs, Debir with her suburbs,
718 FIRST CHRONICLES VI — THE CITIES GIVEN LEVI
59 And Ashan with her suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with her
suburbs :
60 And out of the tribe of Benjamin; Greba with her suburbs, and
Alemeth with her suburbs, and Anathoth with her suburbs. All
their cities throughout their families were thirteen cities.
61 And unto the sons of Kohath, which were left of the family of
that tribe, were cities given out of the half tribe, namely^ out of the kalf
tribe of Manasseh, by lot, ten cities.
62 And to the sons of Gershom throughout their families out of the
tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe
of Naphtali, and out of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen
cities.
63 Unto the sons of Merari were given bv lot, throughout their
families, out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and
out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.
64 And the children of Israel gave to the Levites these cities with
their suburbs.
65 And they gave bv lot out of the tribe of the children of Judah,
and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, and out of the tribe of
the children of Benjamin, these cities, which are called by their
names.
66 And the residue of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities
of their coasts out of the tribe of Ephraim.
67 And thejr gave unto them, oj the cities of refuge, Shechem in
mount Ephraim with her suburbs; they gave also Gezer with her
suburbs,
68 And Jokmeam with her suburbs, and Beth-horon with her
suburbs,
69 And Aijalon with her suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with her
suburbs :
70 And out of the half tribe of Manasseh; Aner with her suburbs,
and Bileam with her suburbs, for the family of the remnant of the
sons of Kohath.
71 Unto the sons of Gershom were given out of the family of the
half tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, and
Ashtaroth with her suburbs:
72 And out of the tribe of Issachar; Kedesh with her suburbs,
Daberath with her suburbs,
73 And Ramoth Ynih her suburbs, and Anem with her suburbs:
74 And out of the tribe of Asher; Mashal with her suburbs, and
Abdon with her suburbs,
75 And Hukok with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs:
76 And out of the tribe of Naphtali; Kedesh in Galilee with her
suburbs, and Hammon with her suburbs, and Kirjathaim with her
suburbs.
<•
-«
tC^e ^unuibnttnt
FROM THE BIBLICAL BERIE8 BT JULIUB SCHNOBS.
*
**David iherrfore besought God for the Mid; and David
fagfed, and went in, and lay aU night upon the earthJ*^^
II. Sam., 12, 16.
THOUGH repentance brings pardon for sin, it does
not bring escape from the sad punishment which
Des ever in the consequences of sin. David had
set before his entire nation an example of selfishness and
falsity. From the selfishness and falsity of his own chil-
dren he suffered much. First came, however, a stroke of
direct punishment, of which Nathan warned him, *'T1ie
child also that is bom unto thee shall surely die.'* This
was the first child of Da\id and Bathsheba, concaved in
sin. The babe was deeply loved by its unhappy parents;
and when a deadly illness came upon the little one, their
sorrow was sore. David, the tender hearted, entreated
Grod that this grief might be spared to him. He abased
himself humbly before God. Night and day for seven
days he lay prone upon the ground outside the door of the
sick chamber. *'And the elders of his house arose, and
went to him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would
not, neither did he eat bread with them.
*' And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the diiU
died."
Then came one of those impressive evidences of David's
strength. He arose sternly from his excessive sorrow
and resumed quietly the duties of life. He had striven
by his prayers to turn aside God*s wrath, now he submitted
to it patiently.
^
iv-73
FIRST CHRONICLES VII — TRIBES OF ISSACHAR AND BENJAMIN 719
77 Unto the rest of the children of Merari were given out of the
tribe of Zebulun, Rimmon with her suburbs. Tabor with her suburbs :
78 And on the other side Jordan by Jericho, on the east side of
Jordan, were aiven them out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the
wilderness with her suburbs, and Jahzah with her suburbs.
79 Kedemoth also with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her
suburbs :
80 And out of the tribe of Gad; Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs,
and Mahanaim with her suburbs,
81 And Heshbon with her suburbs, and Jazer with her suburbs.
Chapter 7
1 The 9oni of Istachar, 6 of Benjamin, 13 of Naphtali, 14 of Manasseh, 20, 24 and of Ephraim. 21 The calamUy
of Ephraim by the men of Oath. 23 Beriah U bom. 28 Ephraim'e habUationa. 30 The eone of Asher.
|OW the sons of Issachar were. Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and
Shimron, four.
2 And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and
Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of tneir father's house, to
wit, of Tola: they were valiant men of might in their generations;
whose number was in the days of David two and twenty thousand
and six hundred.
3 And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah; Michael,
and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five: all of them chief men.
4 And with them, by their generations, after the house of their
fathers, were bands of soldiers tor war, six and thirty thousand men:
for they had many wives and sons.
5 And their brethren among all the families of Issachar were valiant
men of might, reckoned in all by their genealogies fourscore and seven
thousand.
6 ^ The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael,
three.
7 And the sons of Bela; Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth,
and Iri, five; heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour;
and were reckoned by their genealogies twenty and two thousand and
thirty and four.
8 And the sons of Becher; Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer, and
Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and
Alameth. All these are the sons of Becher.
9 And the number of them, after their genealogy by their genera-
tions, heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour, was
twenty thousand and two hundred.
10 The sons also of Jediael; Bilhan: and the sons of Bilhan; Jeush,
and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Thar-
shish, and Ahishahar.
11 All these the sons of Jediael, by the heads of their fathers,
720 FIRST CHRONICLES VII — NAPHTALI, MANASSEH AND EPHRAIM
mighty men of valour, were seventeen thousand and two hundred
soldiers, fit to go out for war and battle.
12 Shuppim also, and Huppim, the children of Ir, and Hushim,
the sons of Aher.
13 Tf The sons of Naphtali; Jahziel, and Guni, and Gezer, and
Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
14 The sons of Manasseh; Ashriel, w^hom she bare^: (Jyat his con-
cubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead:
15 And Machir took to wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim,
whose sister's name was Maachah;) and the name of the second was
Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.
16 And Maachah tne wife of Macmr bare a son, and she called
his name Peresh; and the name of his brother wa^ Sheresh; and his
sons were Ulam and Rakem.
17 And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead,
the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.
18 And his sister Hammoleketh' bare Ishod, and Abiezer, and Ma-
halah.
19 And the sons of Shemidah were, Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi,
and Aniam.
20 Tf And the sons of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and
Tahath his son, and Eladah his son, and Tahath his son,
21 T[ And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and
Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew, be-
cause they came down to take away their cattle.
22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren
came to comfort him.
23 Tf And when he went in to his wife, she conceived, and bare a
son, and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his
house.
24 (And his daughter was Sherah, who built Beth-horon the nether,
and the upper, and Uzzen-sherah.)
25 And Rephah wa^ his son, also Resheph, and Telah his son, and
Tahan his son,
26 Laadan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,
27 Non his son, Jehoshua his son.
28 ^ And their possessions and habitations were^ Beth-el and the
towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the
towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Gaza and
the towns thereof:
29 And bv the borders of the children of Manasseh, Beth-shean
and her towns, Taanach and her towns, Megiddo and her towns,
Dor and her towns. In these dwelt the children of Joseph the son
of Israel.
>The Revised Version reads, "whom his wife bare."
HCamar
"Abaalom Ou ion of David had a par nttar wAow
name wot Tamar." — II. Satn., IS, 1,
WE ENOW the nunes tX many of David's sons
but of only otw (A his daughters, the fair Tamar.
Women were ndconed of leas account than men
ID those stem dajrs of warfare. Tamar's name is only pre-
served for us because of the grim tragedy among men whicJi
hex beauty caused. The domestic sorrows of David did not
end with thedeath of Bathsheba's child. It was through his
childreo that be was made to suffer during all his remain-
ing years. He displayed toward them a fond and fecUe
tenderness which marks the one strain of weakness in his
otherwise sturdy character. Under a firmer father, hia
sons might have been better men.
Apparently these youths were allowed to grow up in
idleness about the court at Jerusalem; and thus Amnon,
the eldest, haring no other occupation, decided that he
was in love with bb half-sister, Tamar. Such a passion
vaa accounted a grievous crime under the laws of Israel,
even as it is to-day: and Amnon dared say nothing to the
maiden. Also he bad fear of her brother Absalom; for
Absalom and Tamar were in a way of higher rank than he.
Amnon's mother had been a woman of the southern wilder^
neas wedded by David in his days of outlawry, but Abaalom
and Tamar were bom of a Syrian princess, whom David
bad espoused in later years. Thus Tamar was not only
fair and pure and gende, as we leam from her sad
story, but was also the most honored of
the daughters of the king.
FIRST CHRONICLES VII — THE TRIBE OF ASHER 721
30 ^ The sons of Asher; Imnah, and Isuah, and Ishuai, and Beriah,
and Serah their sister.
31 And the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malehiel, who is the father
of Birzavith.
32 And Heber begat Japhlet, and Shomer, and Hotham, and Shua
their sister.
33 And the sons of Japhlet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath.
These are the children of Japhlet.
34 And the sons of Shamer; Ahi, and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and
Aram.
35 And the sons of his brother Helem; Zophah, and Imna, and
Shelesh, and Amal.
36 The sons of Zophah; Suah, and Harnepher, and Shual, and
Beri, and Imrah,
37 Bezer, and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and
Beera.
38 And the sons of Jether; Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara.
39 And the sons of Ulla; Arah, and Hanniel, ana Rezia.
40 All these were the children of Asher, heads of their father's house,
choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the princes. And the
number throughout the genealogy of them that were apt to the war
and to battle was twenty and six thousand men.
Chapter 8
The sons and chief men of Benjamin, 33 The stock of Saul and Jonathan,
|OW Benjamin begat Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the secona,
and Aharah the third,
2 Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.
3 And the sons of Bela were, Addar, and Gera, and Abihud,
4 And Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,
5 And Gera, and Shephuphan, and Huram.
6 And these are the sons of Ehud : these are the heads of the fathers
of the inhabitants of Geba, and thev removed them to Manahath:
7 And Naaman, and Ahiah, and (jera, he removed them, and begat
Uzza, and Ahihud.
8 And Shaharaim begat children in the country of Moab,- after he
had sent them away; Hushim and Baara were his waves.
9 And he begat of Hodesh his wife, Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha,
and Malcham,
10 And Jeuz, and Shachia, and Minna. These were his sons»
heads of the fathers.
11 And of Hushim he begat Ahitub, and Elpaal.
12 The sons of Elpaal ; Eber, and Misham, and Shamed, who built
Ono, and Lod, with the towns thereof:
V22 FIKST CHRONICLES VIII — THE TRIBE OF BENJABCIN
13 Beriah also, and Shema, who were heads of the fathers of
the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove away the inhabitants of
Gath:
14 And Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth,
15 And Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader»
16 And ]MichaeU &nd Ispah, and Joha, the sons of Beriah;
17 And Zebadiah, and Meshullam, and Hezeki, and Heber,
18 Ishmerai also, and Jezliah, and Jobab, the sons of Elpaal;
19 And Jakim, and Zichri, and Zabdi,
20 And Elienai, and Zilthai, and Eliel,
21 And Adaiah, and Beraiah, and Shimrath, the sons of
Shimhi;
22 And Ishpan» and Heber, and Eliel,
23 And Abdon, and Zichri, and Hanan,
24 And Hananiah, and Elam, and Antothijah,
25 And Iphedeiah, and Penuel, the sons of Shashak;
26 And Snamsherai, and Shehariah, and Athaliah,
27 And Jaresiah, and Eliah, and Zichri, the sons of Jeroham.
28 These were heads of the fathers, by their generations, chief men.
These dwelt in Jerusalem.
29 And at Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon; whose wife's name
was Maachah:
30 And his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Elsh, and Baal,
and Nadab,
31 And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zacher.
32 And Mikloth begat Shimeah. And these also dwelt with their
brethren in Jerusalem, over against them.
33 Tf And Ner begat Kish, and Kish begat Saul, and Saul begat
Jonathan, and Malcni-shua, and Abinadab, and Esh-baal.
34 And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal ; and Merib-baal begat
Micah.
35 And the sons of Micah were^ Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea,
and Ahaz.
36 And Ahaz begat Jehoadah; and Jehoadah begat Alemeth, and
Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza,
37 And Moza begat Binea: Rapha was his son, Eleasah his son,
Azel his son:
38 And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam,
Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah and Hanan. All
these were the sons of Azel.
39 And the sons of Eshek his brother were^ Ulam his firstborn,
Jehush the second, and Eliphelet the third.
40 And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour, archers,
and had many sons, and sons' sons, an hundred and £fty. All these
are of the sons of Benjamin.
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PAINTEB OF OmENTAI. LIFE. DIED 1889.
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"So Tamar remained deeolaie in her brother AheahwCe
houeer—II. Sam.. 13, 20.
UNHAPPY Tamar. her beauty and her goodness
brought her to misery; Uxr Amnon, despairing of
winning her, laid a plot against her. He pre-
tended to be ill; and when King David exjM'essed great
anxiety ov«r this illness of his eldest son, Amnon entreated
his father to bid Tamar act as nurse for him. The gentle
maid obeyed her father's bdiest, thinking no evil; but
Amnon having her alone by his pretended sick-coudi»
attacked her, and did her irreparable injury. Then, his
former admiration turning all to hatred, he drove her fordi
from his house.
Tamar fled through the streets in despair and terror,
weeping, tearing at her dothes, and heaping dust upon her
head. She sought shelter with her true brother Absalom.
When King David learned of Amnon's crime he was " veiy
wroth," but did nothing. The sin was too like his own
had been. Absalom, furious at heart yet not daring
openly to oppose both his father and his elder brother,
consoled and protected Tamar as best he might in his own
house. In secret he vowed to inflict an awful vengeance
upon Amnon.
iv-75
FIRST CHRONICLES IX — THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM 72S
Chapter 9
1 JTu original of laraeTs and Judah*s genealogies. 2 Th£ Itraeliles, 10 the priests, 14 and the LevUes, wUh Neth»
tnim«, tcAteft dwdt in Jerusalem, 21 The charge of certain Levites. 35 The stock of Satd and Jonathan.
O all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they
were written in the book of tne kings of Israel and Judah,
who were carried away to Babylon for their transgression.
2 ^ Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their
cities werey the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims\
3 And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the
children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh;
4 Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the
son of Bani, of the children of Pharez the son of Judah.
5 And of the Shilonites; Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons.
6 And of the sons of Zerah; Jeuel, and their brethren, six hundred
and ninety.
7 And of the sons of Benjamin; Sallu the son of M^shuUam, the
son of Hodaviah, the son of Hasenuah,
8 And Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the
son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of
Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;
9 And their brethren, according to their generations, nine hundred
and fifty and six. All these men were chief of the fathers in the house
of their fathers.
10 ^ And of the priests; Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, and Jachin,
11 And Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the
son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the
house of God;
12 And Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of
Malchijah, and Maasiai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the
son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;
13 And their brethren, heads of the house of their fathers, a
thousand and seven hundred and threescore; very able men for the
work of the service of the house of God.
14 And of the Levites; Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of
Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;
15 And Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah the son of
Micah, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;
16 And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son
of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that
dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.
17 And the porters were, Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and
Ahiman, and their brethren: Shallum was the chief;
18 Who hitherto waited in the king's gate eastward: they were
porters in the companies of the children of Levi.
iNethinims means "those given" to the service of the sanctuaxy.
724 FIRST CHRONICLES IX — THE LEVITES IN JERUSALEM
19 And Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of
Korah, and his brethren, of the house of his father, the Korahites,
were over the work of the service, keepers of the gates of the taber-
nacle : and their fathers, being over the host of the £ord, were keepers
of the entry.
20 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the ruler over them in
time past, and the Lord was with him.
21 And 2^hariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation,
22 All these which were chosen to be porters in the gates were two
hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by their genealogy in
their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did oraain in their
set office.
23 So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the
house of the Lord, namely^ the house of the tabernacle, by wards.
24 In four quarters were the porters, toward the east, west, north,
and south.
25 And their brethren, which were in their villages, were to come
after seven days from time to time with them.
26 For these Levites, the four chief porters, were in their set oflSce,
and were over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.
27 ^ And they lodged round about the house of Grod, because the
charge wa^ upon them, and the opening thereof every morning per-
tained to them.
28 And certain of them had the charge of the ministering vessels,
that they should bring them in and out by tale.
29 Some of them also were appointed to oversee the vessels, and
all the instruments of the sanctuary, and the fine flour, and the wine,
and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices.
50 And some of the sons of the priests made the ointment of the
spices.
51 And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who wOrS the firstborn of
Shallum the Korahite, had the set office over the things that were
made in the pans.
32 And other of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were
over the shewbread, to prepare it every sabbath.
33 And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites,
who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in
thai work day and night.
34 These chief fathers of the Levites were chief throughout their
generations; these dwelt at Jerusalem.
35 t And in Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jehiel, whose wife's
name wa^ Maachah:
36 And his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, and Kish, and Baal,
and Ner, and Nadab,
9timon i^lam
BT J. JAMEB TiaSOT. REPRODUCED BT COUBTEBT OF
THE AMERICAN TIS80T 80CIETT OF NEW YORK.
+
*'Now Ahtalom had commanded kis tervanU^ saying ^
Mark ye now when Amnon*s heart is merry with wine, and
when I say unto you^ Smite Amnon; then kUl him** —
//. Sam.^ 13^ 28.
FOR two yean Absalom waited till the time should
be ripe for bis vengeanoe upon Amnon. Then
tnistiDg that everyone, even Amnon himself* would
have forgotten the unhappy Tamar, Absalom prepared a
feast and invited to it his father and all his brethren. King
David did not go, but Amnon came with the other young
men. In the midst of th^ merry-making, as Amnon grew
heedless with wine, his hosts' servants came behind and
slew him. "Then all the king's sons arose, and evary
man gat him up upon his mule, and fled."
So here was crime sprung from crime, sorrow from sor-
row. And again the king "wept very sore." Indeed at
first David heard that all his sons had been slain, and his
grief was intense. Yet he did nothing. Then the young
men, all except Amnon and Absalom, came riding tumul-
tuously back toward the city, and the king's heart was
in part relieved. Absalom fled into exile to his mother's
city of Geshur in Syria, whehce David made no effort
to reclaim him for punishment On the contrary, "the
soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom; for
he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.'*
iv-76
FIRST CHRONICLES X — ^SAUl's DEATH 725
37 And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zechariah, and Mikloth.
38 And IVIikloth begat Shimeam. And they also dwelt with their
brethren at Jerusalem, over against their brethren.
39 And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat
Jonathan, and Malchi-shua, and Abinadao, and Esh-baal.
40 And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal : and Merib-baal begat
Micah.
41 And the sons of Micah were^ Pithon, and Melech, and Tahrea,
and Ahaz.
42 And Ahaz begat Jarah; and Jarah begat Alemeth, and Az-
maveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza;
43 And Moza begat Binea; and Kephaiah his son, Eleasah his son,
Azel his son.
44 And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam,
Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these
were the sons of Azel.
Ctiapter 1 0
1 SavTi overthrow and death, 8 The PhUietines triumph over Saul. 11 The kindneae of Jabeeh^ifUead towards
Saul and his eons. 13 Satd*8 ain, for tohich the kingdom was translated from him to David,
jlOW the Philistines fought against Israel ; and the men of Israel
fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount
Gilboa^
2 And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons;
and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua,
the sons of Saul.
3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him,
and he was wounded of the archers.^
4 Then said Saul to his armourbearer. Draw thy sword, and thrust
me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.
But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul
took a sword, and fell upon it.
5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell
likewise on the sword and died.
6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together*
7 And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that
they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook
their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8 % And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came
to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount
Gilboa.
9 And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his
iHere begins the close correspondence of the books of Chronicles with those of Samuel and Kings. See
I. Sam., 31, 1. *The Revised Version reads, "and the archers overtook him. and he was distressed by
reason of the archers."
726 FIRST CHRONICLES XI — DAVID CROWNED
armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to
carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people.
10 And tney put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened
his head in the temple of Dagon.
11 ^ And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had
done to Saul,
12 They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of
Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and
buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 ^ So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against
the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not,
and also for asking counsel of one thai had a familiar spirit, to mquire
of it;
14 And inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and
turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.
Ctiapter II
1 David by a aeneral eonamt is made king at Hebron, 4 He winndh Ou cadU at Zion from Ou JdmMUmhfi JceVi
vaiawr. 10 A catalogue of David's mighty men.
HEN all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron,
saying. Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
2 And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king,
thou wa^t he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel : and the Lord
thy God said unto thee. Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou
shalt be ruler over my people Israel.
3 Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron;
and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord;
and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of
the Lord by Samuel.
4 ^ And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jehus;
where the Jebusites were^ the inhabitants of the land.
5 And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come
hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the citv
of David.
6 And David said. Whosoever smitelh the Jebusites first shall be
chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and
was chief.
7 And David dwelt in the castle ; therefore they called it the dty
of David.
8 And he built the city round about, even from Millo* round about;
and Joab repaired the rest of the city.
9 So David waxed greater and greater: for the Lord of hosts was
with him.
10 1 These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had,
^See Dote to I. Kings. 9, 16.
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He eame lo Ihe king, and bowed himmifcn hUfaee to
the ground before the king: and the king kisied Abmdom.** —
//. Sam.. IJ^ S3.
WITH a father such as David, it oould be onlj a
question of time when Absalom would be
whoUj pardoned, and restored to his rank.
He seems to have been the king's favorite among all his
sons, a youth notable not only for his les^^ution and abflity*
but also for charm of manner and physical beauty. *'In
all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom
for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown
of his head there was no blemish in him." As for his hair«
its thick luxuriance was a marvel through all the land.
It was the veteran general Joab, ever ready to cator to
the king's weaknesses, who secured the favorite's return
from exile. Joab bribed a woman to go to the king with
a pretended tale, which roused David to praise parental
devotion. While he was in this mood the woman reminded
him of his own exiled son, and entreated him to restore
Israel's favorite. David did so; and, after three yean
in Syria, Absalom returned to Jerusalem. Yet for an-
other two years his father would not see him face to face.
Then Absalom refused to submit longer, and compelled
Joab to secure him an interview, crying, "If there be any
iniquity in me, let him kill me." So the tender-hearted
David welcomed and embraced Absalom. The past was
forgiven and forgotten.
;-\^
iv-77
FIRST CHRONICLES XI — DAVId's CAPTAINS 727
Tvho strengthened themselves with him in his kingdomr and with all
Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concern-
ing Israel.
11 And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had;
Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the capta^ins: he lifted up
his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.
12 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, whe
^was one of the three mighties.
13 He was with David at Fas-dammim, and there the Philistines
were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full
of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.
14 And they set themselves in the midst of thai parcel, and de-
livered it, and slew the Philistines; and the Lord saved them by a
great deliverance.
15 ^ Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to
David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistinei^
encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
16 And David wa^ then in the hold, and the Philistines' garrison
^as then at Beth-lehem.
17 And David longed, and said. Oh that one would give me drink
of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, that is at the gate !
18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and
drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and
took ity and brought it to David : but David would not drink of it,
but poured it out to the Ix)rd.
19 And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall
I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy ?
for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Theretore he
would not dnnk it. These things did these three mightiest.
20 ^ And Abishai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three :
for lifting up his spear against three hundred, he slew them^ and had
a name among the three.
21 Of the three, he was more honourable than the two; for he was
their captain: how^beit he attained not to the first three.
22 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kab-^
zeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men^ of Moab:
also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day.
23 And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits
high; and in the Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver's beam;
and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of
the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.
24 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had a name
among the three mighties.
iTbe Revised Version reads. " he slew the two sons of Ariel of Moab.**
728 FIRST CHRONICLES XI — DAVID*S MIGHTY MEN
25 Behold, he was honourable among the thirty, but attained not
to the jirst three: and David set him over his guard.
26 % Also the valiant men of the armies werCy Asahel the brother
of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,
27 Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,
28 Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abi-ezer the Antothite,
29 Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,
30 Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Ne-
tophathite.
31 Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah, that 'pertained to the children
of Benjamin, Benaiah the Firathonite.
32 Uurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abie! the Arbathite,
33 Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,
34 The sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shage
the Hararite,
35 Ahiham the son of Saear the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur,
36 Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,
37 Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai,
38 Joel the brother of Nathan, IVIibhar the son of Haggeri,
39 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armourbearer
of Joab the son of Zeruiah,
40 Ira the Ithiite, Gareb the Ithrite,
41 Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,
42 Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a captain of the Reuben-
ites, and thirtv with him,
43 Hanan the son of Maachah, and Joshaphat the iVIithnite,
44 Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jehiel the sons of Hothan
the Aroerite,
45 Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite,
46 Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of
Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,
47 Eliel, and Obed, and Jasiel the Mesobaite.
Chapter 12
1 The oompofiies thai came to David ai Ziklag. 23 The armies that came to him ai Hdrrtm,
j|0 W these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet
kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they
were among the mighty men, helpers of the war.
2 They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand
and the left in hurling stones, and shooting arrows out of a bow, even
of Saul's brethren of Benjamin.
3 The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the
Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Bera-
chah, and Jehu the Antothite,
T^
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BIT G. BOCHBGBOaSE. FBOM THE BEBISB OF 'ONE
HUNDRED BIBLE PICTURES,*' IBBUED BT THE
CURRENT UTERATURE PUBLIBHINO CO.
*'And aU the eoutUry v>ept wUh a hud voiee^ mud aU the
people passed over: the king also hinudf passed over the
brook Kidronr—Il. Sam., 15, 23.
YET if David had forgotten the past, Aboakmi had
not Hehad formed the deliberate purposeof driving
his father from the throne. Doubtless his motives
were mingled of vengeance and ambition. With the
patience and craft which he had displayed ever since the
wronging of Tamar seven years agone, he set himself to
supplanting his father in the affections of the people. He
was always at the seats of justice, flattmng the successful,
consoling the injured and afflicted, hinting how much
better they would fare if he were king. Also he made
great display in Jerusalem, he ''prepared him chariots
r.nd horses, and fifty men to run before him.*' Then sud-
denly he gathered his adherents in Hebron, was procUdmed
king, and marched against Jerusalem.
Upon the unsuspecting David the bolt fell as from a
dear sky. There was no time to gather an army fcur de-
fense. He must surrender or flee. Then the real, strong
spul of Israel's greatest monarch reasserted itself. With
a calm and energy worthy of his youngest days, and a wis-
dom worthy of his age, David made his preparations.
Many who would have accompanied him, he bade stay
to welcome the usurper. Thus with the fewest encum-
brances, his tiny party surrounded only by veteran soldiers*
did the aged monarch set out, followed by the
lamentations of all his people.
iv-78
FIRST CHRONICLES XII — DAVId's FOLLOWERS 729
4 And Ismaiah the Gibeonite, a .mighty man among the tliirty^
and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Janaziel, and Johanan, and
Jozabad the Gederathite.
5 Eluzai, and Jerimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, and Shepha-
tiah the Haruphite.
6 Elkanah, and Jesiah, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam^
the Korhites,
7 And Joelah, and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.
8 And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into
the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war Jit for the
battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like
the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;
9 Ezer, the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,
10 Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,
11 Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,
12 Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,
13 Jeremiah the tenth, Machbanai the eleventh.
14 These were of the sons of Gad, captains of the host: one of the
least was over an hundred, and the neatest over a thousand.
15 These are they that went over Jordan in the first month, when
it had overflown all his banks ; and they put to flight all them of the
valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west.
16 And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the
hold unto David.
17 And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto
them. If ye be come peaceably unto me to help. me, mine heart shall
be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies,,
seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look
thereon^ and rebuke it.
18 Then the spirit came iipon Amasai, who was chief of the captains,.
and he said. Thine are we^ David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse:
Eeace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God
elpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains
of the band.
19 And there fell some of Manasseh to David, when he came with
the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they helped them not: for
the lords of the rhilistines upon advisement sent nim away, sayings
He will fall to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.
20 As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah,
and Jozabad, and Jediael, Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and
Zilthai, captains of the thousands that were of Manasseh.
21 And they helped David against the band of the rovers: for they
were all mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.
22 For at that time day by day there came to David to help him,
until it was a great host, like the host of God.
730 FIRST CHRONICLES XII — THE FOLLOWERS AT HEBRON
23 ^ And these are the numbers of the bands ikat were ready armed
to the war, and came to David' to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of
Saul to him, according to the word of the Lord.
24 The children of Judah that bare shield and spear were six
thousand and eight hundred, ready armed to the war.
25 Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valour for the war,
seven thousand and one hundred.
26 Of the children of Levi four thousand and six himdred.
27 And Jehoiada V)a8 the leader of the Aaronites, and with him
were three thousand and seven hundred;
28 And Zadok, a young man mighty of valour, and of his father's
house twenty and two captains.
29 And of the children of Benjamin, the kindred of Saul, three
thousand: for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept the ward
of the house of Saul.
30 And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand and eight
hundred, mighty men of valour, famous throughout the house of their
fathers.
31 And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, which
were expressed by name, to come and make David king.
82 And of the children of Issachar, whwh were men that had under-
standing of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of
them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their com-
mandment.
33 Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with
all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they
were not of double heart.
34 And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them with shield
and spear thirty and seven thousana.
35 And of the Danites expert in war twenty and eight thousand
and six hundred.
36 And of Asher, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, forty
thousand.
37 And on the other side of Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the
Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all maimer of
instruments of war for the battle, an hundred and twenty thou-
sand.
88 All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect
heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel : and all the rest
also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.
39 And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking:
for their brethren had prepai-ed for them.
40 Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar and
Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and
on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches
4f ''^^^ :"'"
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Then wid AhUhai ths son (^ Zendak unio Ike hmg.
Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me
go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.** — II. Sam.^ 16, 9.
DAVID must liave been about sixty yeus of age
when he passed forth into this his second period of
exile. In his flight* he learned much as to who
were his true friends. Everywhere he met kindness and
devotion* except from one man, a case so startling as to
draw attention. As David's troop passed Bahuzun» a
town of Benjamin, which had been the tribe of King Saul,
a leading Benjamite named Shimei came forth and cursed
David, crying that his misfortunes were a joy to all who
had loved Saul. '* And he cast stones at David, and at all
the servants of king David.'*
The grim soldiers who surrounded the king ?rould have
pursued Shimei and slain him. But David fcM'bade it.
saying sadly, "Behold, my son sedceth my
life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let
him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him.
It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that
the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day."
Encouraged by this forbearance, Shimei followed the
troop a long way, cursing and throwing stones and r>uMfing
dust upon the king. So David departed from his Idngdoin.
and crossed Jordan into the wilderness.
iv-79
FIRST CHRONICLES VIII THE ARK HONORED 731
of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for
there was joy in Israel.
Cfiopter 13
1 David fetcketh the ark vrith 0'eai aolemnUy from Kirjath-jearim. 0 Uua being tmitten, the ark ia left aiihe
hmue of Obed-edom.
[|ND David consulted with the captains of thousands and hun-
dreds, and with every leader.
2 And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If
it seem good unto you, and tJiat it be of the Lord oiu* God, let us
send abroad unto our brethren everywhere, that are left in all the
land of Israel, and with them also to th? priests and Levites which
are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves
unto us:
3 And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we inquired
not at it in the days oi Saul.
4 And all the congregation said that they would do so : for the thing
was right in the eyes of all the people.
5 So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even
unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath-
jearim.
6 And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjath-
jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God
the Lord, that dweileth between the cherubims, whose name is called
on it^.
7 And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house
of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.
8 And David and all Israel played before God with all their might,
and with singing, and with narps, and with psalteries, and with
timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.
9 t And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza
put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
10 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he
smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died
before God.
11 And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a
breach upon Uzza : wherefore that place is called Perez-uzza to this
day.
12 And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I
bring the ark of God home to me ?
13 So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city
of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the
Gittite.
iTbe Revised Version reads, "which Is called by the Name.**
7S2 FIRST CHRONICLES XIV — THE PHILISTINES DEFEATED
14 And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom
in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the house of Obed-
edom, and all that he had.
Chapter 14
1 Hiram'$ kindnesa to David. 2 David^B fHicUy in people, trivet, and ehUdren. 8 Hie two vidoriea mhiuC
OU PkUieUnee,
|OW Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and timber
of cedars, with masons and carpenters, to build him an house.
2 And David perceived that the Lord had confirmed him
'1 ^ i»'
ing over Israel, for his kingdom was lifted up on high, because of
his people Israel.
3 ^ And David took more \^ives at Jerusalem : and David begat
more sons and daughters.
4 Now these are the names of his children which he had in Jerusa-
lem; Shammua, and Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon,
5 And Ibhar, and Elishua, and Elpalet,
6 And Nogah, and Nephe^, and Japhia,
7 And Elisnama, and Beeliada, and Eliphalet.
8 ^ And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed kinff
over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David
heard of t/, and went out against them.
9 And the Philistines came and spread themselves in the valley of
Rephaim.
10 And David inquired of God, saying. Shall I go up against the
Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the
Lord said unto him. Go up: for I will deliver them into thine hand.
11 So they came up to Baal-perazim; and David smote them there.
Then Davici said, God hath broken in upon mine enemies by mine
hand like the breaking forth of waters : therefore they called the name
of that place Baal-perazim.
12 And when they had left their gods there, David gave a com-
mandment, and they were burned with fire.
13 And the Philistines yet again spread themselves abroad in the
valley.
14 Therefore David inquired again of God; and God said unto
him. Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon
them over against the mulberry trees.
15 And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of going in the
tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out for battle:
for God is gone forth before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.
16 David therefore did as God commanded him: and they smote
the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gazer.
17 And the fame of David went out into all lands; and the Lord
brought the fear of him upon all nations.
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fhdr—lL Sam., 17, H.
MEANWHILE in Jerusalem all had passed aa
David had foreseen. The people, unable to
resist Absalom, made him welcome and pro-
daimed him king. Where all seined to favor him, he
oould not discriminate false from true, and admitted to
his counsels many who at heart still dung to David.
Hitherto the usurper's diief adviser had been the shrewd,
de^seeing Ahithophd, who though the grandfather of
Bathsheba, had apparently deserted the fair queen*a
interest9. Ahithophel had long been regarded by all
Israel as the wisest of men. He had been David's head
counsellor, but had now abandoned the setting for the ris-
ing sun, so confident was he of Absalom's success.
Indeed that success must have been assured, had Ahi-
thophd's advice still been followed. He insisted that
David must be pursued at once, and slain before he oould
gather adherents. But David's secret friends urged that
Absalom must first establish himsdf fully in Jerusalem,
and display himself as king. He must raDy aD Israd to
his standard then David could be captured at any time*
This lastly comfortable procedure appealed to Absalom,
and he followed it Ahithophd seeing his advice neglected,
and seeing the inevitable result as against a man of David's
ability, recognized that he himsdf had blundered, had
allied himsdf with supineness as against eneigy, dull-
ness as against wit, ignorant self-Kx>ncdt as against worid-
wide knowledge. He went home "and put
his household in order, and
hanged himsdf/'
iv-80
FIB8T CHRONICLES XV — THE AKK IN PROCESSION 733
Chapter 15
1 David, having vrepared a place for the ark, ardereUi the prieete and LevUes to bring it from Obed-edom. 25 H4
jterformdh the aoUmnUy (hereof with great joy. 29 Michm deepieeth him.
ND David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared
a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.
2 Then David said. None ougnt to carry the ark of God
hut the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of
<jrod, and to minister unto him for ever.
3 And David gathered all Isrrfel together to Jerusalem, to brin/
up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had preparer
for it.
4 And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites:
5 Of the sons of Kohath; Uriel the chief, and his brethren an hun-
dred and twenty:
- 6 Of the sons of Merari; Asaiah the chief, and his brethren two
hundred and twenty:
7 Of the sons of Gershom; Joel the chief, and his brethren an
hundred and thirty:
8 Of the sons of Elizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren
two hundred:
9 Of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his brethren fourscore:
10 Of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brethren
an hundred and twelve.
11 And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for
the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and
Amminadab,
12 And said unto them. Ye are the chief of the fathers of the
Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may
bring up the arfc of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have
prepared for it.
13 For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord out God made
a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.
14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring
up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.
1 5 And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their
shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according
to the word of the Lord.
16 And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their
brethren to he the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and
harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.
17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his
brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari
their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;
18 And with them their brethren of the second degree^ Zechariah,
Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab»
734 FIRST CHRONICLES XV — DAVID DANCES
and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah and Elipheleh, and
IVIikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the porters.
19 So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to
sound with cymbals of brass;
20 And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and
Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries on Ala-
moth;
21 And Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom,
and Jeiel and Azaziah, with harpi^ on the Sheminith* to excel.
22 And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song: he instructed
about the song, because he wa^ skilful.
23 And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.
24 And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Netnaneel, and Amasai,
and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with
the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah
were doorkeepers for the ark.
25 If So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over
thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out
of the house of Obed-eaom with joy.
26 And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that tney offered seven bullocks
and seven rams.
27 And David t(;(W clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the
Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master
of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of
linen.
28 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord
with shouting, and with sound of the comet, and with trumpets, and
with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.
29 f And it came to pass, cw the ark of the covenant of the Lord
came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking
out at a mndow saw king David dancing and playing: and she de-
spised him in her heart.
Chapter 16
1 David'9 fettival aacrifice. 4 He ordereth a choir to sina thanktinving. 7 The pealm cf thanktgivifHf, 37 He
appoinleih minieUrBt poriarB, prieeiit and munciana, to aUend continuaUy on the ark.
O they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the
tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt
sacrifices and peace offerings before God.
2 And when David nad made an end of offering the burnt offerings
and the peace offerings, he blessed the people m the name of the
Lord.
iSheminitb is a musical term, meaning probably " octave." Compare the title of Psalm 0.
I
sBoiitb Wduaattt in Cxile
BT WILHELM GENTZ, A GERMAN ABTEBT, DIED 1890.
For they said^ The people ie hungry^ and weary^ and
thinty, in Uie wUdemeeeS* — II. Sam^ 17 y £9.
KING DAVID, warned by his friends in Jerosalenu
made all haste to get bejond Absalom's reach.
On the other side <^ Jordan he found many friends,
those whom he had aided in his days of power, and who,
having the desert at their badcs for refuge, need have little
fear of Absalom. Chief of those who weloomed him were
Barzillai the Gileadite the aged shiek over many a wander-
ing tribe, and Machir a leading man in the tribe of Gad,
who gave David shelter and pK>tecti<m in Mahanaim, the
foremost city of Gad. Also Shobi, a prince of the Am-
monites who had perhaps been set as viceroy over his
nation by David, came with troops to his benefactor's aid.
Thus the trans-Jordan region stood by David, and
Absalom fdt compelled to march against him with an
army« The usurper's forces were vast in number but un-
trained and unwieldy. David's troops were few in com-
parison, twenty thousand we are told; but tiiey were
practiced soldiers, and as a centre they had the celebrated
veterans of the king's own bodyguard, the heroes of his
earlier days. Moreover David had still as general his
nephew Joab, who may have been an evil and cruel man,
but was yet the greatest fighting leader Israel ever knew.
So David, as he watched his soldiers issue from the gates
of Mahanaim, addressed them with calm confidence. His
faith in God's favor had not deserted him, he
knew himself justly punished for his
weakness toward his children.
^
iv-81
FIRST CHRONICLES XVI — DAVID's THANKSGIVING 735
3 And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to
every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of
wine.
4 ^ And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the
ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lori>
God of Israel:
5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemira-
moth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-
edom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a
sound with cymbals;
6 Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually
before the ark of the covenant of God.
7 ^ Then on that day David delivered first thi^ psalniy to thank
the Lord, into the hand of Asaph and his brethren ^
8 Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known
his deeds amon^. the people.
9 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous
works.
10 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that
seek the Lord.
11 Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.
12 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders,
and the judgments of his mouth;
13 O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen
ones,
14 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
15 Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he com-
manded to a thousand generations:
16 Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of
his oath unto Isaac:
17 And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel
for an everlasting covenant,
18 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your
inheritance;
19 When ye were but a few, even a few, and strangers in it.
20 And wnen they went from nation to nation, and &om one king-
dom to another people;
21 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings
for their sakes,
22 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no
harm.
23 Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; shew forth from day to day
his salvation.
>Ftom here through vene 36 Is printed as a poetical chant in the Revised Venloo. The aong ia very
■imilar to parts of Psalms 106, 90 and lOO.
736 FIRST CHRONICLES XVI — ^THE PRIESTS OF THE ARK
24 Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works
among all nations.
25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also w
to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the people are idols : but the Lord made the
heavens.
27 Glory and honour are* in his presence; strength and gladness
are in his place.
28 Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the
Lord glory and strength.
29 Give unto the Lord the glory diie unto his name: bring an
offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of
holiness.
30 Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable,
that it be not moved.
31 liCt the heavens beglad, and let the earth rejoice: and let Tnen
say among the nations, The Lord reigneth.
32 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice,
and all that is therein.
33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the
Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth.
34 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy
endureth for ever.
35 And say ye. Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us
together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks
to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.
36 Blessed he the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever. And all
the people said. Amen, and praised the Lord.
37 TJ So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord
Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as
every day's work required:
38 And Obed-edom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-
edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to he porters:
39 And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the
tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon,
40 To offer burnt oflFerings unto the Lord upon the altar of the
burnt offering continually morning and evening, and to do according
to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which he commandeii
Israel ;
41 And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were
chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the LorDi
because his mercv endureth for ever;
42 And with ttem Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cym-
bals for those that should make a sound, and with musical instruments
of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were porters.
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" Then Ktid Joah, I may not tarry thus with thee. And
he took tiiTce darU in his hand and thnul them through the
heart of Ah»alom."—ll. Sam.. 18, IS,.
AS THE troops m&rched out of Mahanaim, Dsvid'a
last word to them all. and especially to Joab, waa
that they should, "Deal gently for my sake with
the youQg man, evca with Absalom." The king had him-
self devised the plan of battle. As Absalom's forces were
advancing toward Mahanaim through a wood a few miles
away, David's veterans attacked them from three directiooa.
There was scarcely a battle, only a flight and a pursuit.
All the earlier wisdom of Absalom seems to have deserted
him from the moment of his usurpation; and he had accom-
panied his army in ostentatious splendor mounted upon a
mule, as though engaged in a peaceful pageant.
He fled with his people; his mule rushed madly through
the wood: but this speed instead of insuring Absalom's
escape proved his destruction. The wonderful, bushy
hair of which the young man had been so proud, was
caught hy an overhanging oak hough; his mule sped from
under him, leaving him to hang there helpless, unable to
free himself. The pursuing soldiers, remembering David's
plea, would have spanxl Absalom; but word of his plight
reached Joab, and liiat fierce warrior had no such com-
puuclion. With Absalom again pardoned and restored
to favor, perhaps made king, what reward would the
treacherous young man have for the general who had de-
feated him ? Hurrying grimly forward, Joab
with his own hand slew the
entangled prisoner.
FIRST CHRONICLES XVII — DAVID PLANS THE TEMPLE 737
43 And all the people departed every man to his house : and David
xeturned to bless nis nouse.
Cfiapter 17
I Nathan first approving the purpose of David, to build God an house, 3 after by the word of Cfod forbidddh him,
II He promiseth him bUssings and benefits in his seed. 16 David's prayer and thanksgiving.
|OW it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David
said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars,
but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remaineth under
curtains.
2 Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart;
for God is with thee.
3 ^ And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God
came to Nathan, saying,
4 Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt
not build me an house to dwell in:
5 For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought
up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from
one tabernacle to another.
6 Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to
any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people,
saying. Why have ye not built me an house of cedars ?
7 Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from
following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:
8 And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and
have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee
a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.
9 Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and. will plant
them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no
more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more,
as at the beginning,
10 And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my
people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Further-
more I tell thee that the Lord will build thee an house.
11 ^ And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou
must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee,
which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish nis kingdom.
12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.
IS I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take
my mercy awav from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:
14 But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for
ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.
15 According to all these words, and according to all this vision,
so did Nathan speak unto David.
738 FIRST CHRONICLES XVII — DAVID THANKS GOD
16 If And David the king came and sat before the Lord, and said.
Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast
brought me hitherto ?
17 And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O Grod; for thou
hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come,
and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree,
O Lord God.
18 What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy
servant? for thou knowest thy servant.
19 O Lord, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own
heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these
great things.
20 O Lord, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside
thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
21 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom
God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of
greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy
people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt ?
22 For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for
ever; and thou. Lord, becamest their God.
23 Therefore now. Lord, let the thing that thou hast spoken con-
cerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever,
and do as thou hast said.
24 Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified
for ever, saying. The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to
Israel : and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee.
25 For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build
him an house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray
before thee.
26 And now, Lord, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness
unto thy servant;
27 Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant,
that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O Ix)rd, and
it shaU be blessed for ever.
Chapter 18
1 David subdudh Vie Phauiine$ and the MoabiUe. 3 He emitelh Hadareter and (he Syrians. 0 Tou eendetk
Hadoram with presents to bless David. 11 The presents and the spaa David dedicated to Qod. 13 He puttdh
garrisons in Edom. 14 David's officers.
OW after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines,
and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the
___^ hand of the Philistines.
2 And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became David's servants,
and brought gifts.
3 ^ And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto Hamath, as
he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates.
1'^' .-,
I
I '
t .
^— .
I •
BT T. AUUOU, AN ENGLISH ABTIBT OF THB EABLT
NINETEENTH CENTURT.
4-
**Now Abtaiom in hit life Hms had taken and reamd up
for himadfa pillar, tMch is in ike king*9 daU:for he mnd^
I have no eon to keep my name in remitmbranee . , . it
ie called tmto this day, Absalom'e place.*' — II. Sam., 18,18.
THUS ended the wild career of the most notaUe
among David*s older sons. Absalom's character
presents many opposing qualities. He was loyal
to his sbter, yet deliberatdy treacdierous to his father. He
was patient to wait and to endure, yet bold and fertile of
expedients, as when he once forced an interview with Joab
by burning the latter's barley field. He was fascinating
of manner, yet false at heart. He was so skillful and able
as to win the favor of all Israel, yet so foolish as to be mis-
led by his father's known friends, so sluggish of action as
to let slip the kingdom he had won, so vain as to lose his
life through care of his beauty.
It is characteristic of Absalom that he built his own
tomb during his lifetime, so that it might be sumptuous
enough to make him remembered; and it is suggestive of
the pathos of his career that his body never lay beneath
his gorgeous monument. Joab cast his remains into
"a great pit in the wood"; and the soldiers heaped above
him a huge pile of rough stones as the mark of one who
had died an evil death. The Bible tells us that Absalom's
empty tomb stood for centuries in its valley just outside
Jerusalem; but the structure now pointed out as his b^
longs almost certainly to later Roman times.
^
iv-83
FIRST CHRpNICLES XVIII — DAVID^S EMPIRE ESTABLISHED 739
4 And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thou-
sand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed
all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots.
5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer king
of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
6 Then David put garrisons in Syria-damascus ; and the Syrians
became David's servants, and brought gifts. Thus the Lord pre-
served David whithersoever he went.
7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of
Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
8 Likewise from Tibhath, and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer,
brought David very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brasen
sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.
9 ^ Now when Tou king of Hamath heard how David had smitten
all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah;
10 He sent Hadoram his son to king David, to inquire of his welfare,
and to congratulate him, because he had fouffht against Hadarezer,
and smitten him; (for Hadarezer had war witn Tou;) and vrith him
all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass.
11^ Them also king David dedicated unto the Lord, with the
silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations; from Edom,
and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the
Philistines, and from Amalek.
12 Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of the Edomites in
the vallev of salt eighteen thousand.
13 % And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became
David's servants. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he
went.
14 ^ So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and
justice among all his people.
15 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehosha-
phat the son of Ahilud, recorder.
16 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abia-
thar, were the priests; and Shavsha was scribe;
17 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada wa^ over the Cherethites and
the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief about the king.
Cfiopter 19
1 Daeid^s mesiengera, Beni to comfori Hanun the 9on of Nahiuh, are vUlarunuly entreated. 6 The Ammonitet,
strenifthened by the Svnans, are overcome by Joab and Abishai. 16 Shophach, making a new eupply of the Syriane,
U eUun by David.
OW it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the
children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.
2 And David said, I will show kindness unto Hanun the
son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And
740 FIRST CHRONICLES XIX — THE VICTORY OVER AMMON
David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the
servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to
Hanun, to comfort him. \
3 But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun» Think-
cst thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent com-
forters unto thee ? are not his servants come unto thee for to search,
and to overthrow, and to spy out the land ?
4 Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved them, and
•cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent
them away.
5 Then there went certmn^ and told David how the men were
served. And he sent to meet them: for the men were greatly ashamed.
And the king said. Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and
ihen return.
6 T[ And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made
themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent
a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out
of Mesopotamia, and out of Syria-maachah, and out of Zobah.
7 So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king
of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba.
And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their
cities, and came to battle.
8 And when David heard of ity he sent Joab, and all the host of
the mighty men.
9 And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in
array before the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were
by tnemselves in the field.
10 Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before
and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in
array against the Syrians.
1 1 And the rest of the people he delivered unto the hand of Abishai,
his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of
Ammon.
12 And he said. If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou
shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee,
then I will help thee.
13 Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly* for
our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the Lord do Uiui
which is good in his sight.
14 So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before
the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him.
15 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Sjnians were
fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into
the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
*
»The Hebrew here ts the same as In the parallel passage. II. Sam., 10. 12. Therefore both should be
Translated alike.
La .:
Sobtb JLtatna of J^ia fton'K Seat^
BY WILLIAM SMALL, A CONTEMFORABT ENGLISH
;
;
**And the king Mid unto Ctuhi, It the young man
Absalom safe ?*'—II. Sam,, 18, 32.
EVEN Joab fdt some hesitation about fareaJdng to
King David the news of Absalom's death, and
especially the manner of it He refused to send
the news by Ahimaaz, a tried friend of the king, and de-
spatched it by Cushi, or the Cushite, an Ethiopian n^ro
servant. But after Cushi had sped away, Ahimaaz also
started, and outran Cushi, so that he came first to the
king.
David, waiting eagerly at the city gate, was told by the
watchman in the tower above that Ahimaaz was coming.
"And the king said. He is a good man, and oometh with
good tidings." Nor did Ahimaaz dare tell all his news,
but announced only the overwhelming victory. David
had asked no questions about that, he had not doubted
of the issue. What he asked at once and anxiously was
of Absalom's fate. And Ahimaaz lied, saying he did not
know; but David read his face and bade him stand aside,
for Cushi also was now come panting to the gate. Cushi's
answer to the same pleading question was diplomatic but
decisive. "The enemies of my lord the king, and all that
rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.'
iv-«4
■
FIRST CHRONICLES XX — THE AMMONITES DESTROYED 741
16 ^ And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse
before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that
were beyond the river: and Snophach the captain of the host of
Hadarezer werd before them.
17 And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed
over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the batUe in array against
them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians,
they fought with him.
18 But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians
seven thousand men which fouaht in chariots, and forty thousand
footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.
19 And when the servants of Haaarezer saw that they were put
to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and became
his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon
any more.
Ciiapter 20
i Rabbah is begieged by Joab, spoiled by David, and the people thereof tortured. 4 Three giarUa are siain in three
several overthrows of the Philistines.
ND it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the
time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of
the army, ana wasted the country of the children of Ammon,
and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem.
And Joab smote Raobah, and destroyed it.
2 And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and
found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in
it; and it was set upon David's head: and he brought also exceeding
much spoil out of tne city.
3 And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them
with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt
David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David
and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
4 ^ And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer
with the Philistines: at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew
Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued.
5 And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the
son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose
spear-staff was like a weaver's l^eam.
6 And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great
stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each
handy and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant.
7 But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's
brother, slew him.
8 These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the
Jiand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
742 FIBST CHRONICLES XXI — THE NUMBERmO
Ciiopter 21
1 David, tempted by Satan, foreeth Joab to number (he people, 5 The number cf the peopU being brmukL DawU.
repenteth of U. 9 David having three ptaguu propouruJM by Gad thooeeth the peetilenee. 14 After the death et
eeventy thoueand, David by repentance prevenUth the deetrudion of Jeruealem. 18 David, by Ood'a direeUon.
purchaeelh Oman's threshingfloor: where having built an altar, God giveth a sign of hie favour by /Ire, and eta»eih
the plague, 28 David sacrificeUi there, being reetrained from Gibeon by fear of the angel.
[|ND Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to
number Israel.
2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people^
Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the
number of them to me, that I may know of it.
3 And Joab answered. The Lord make his people an hundred
times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not
all my lord's servants? why theii doth my lord reqmre this thing?
why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?
4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore
Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
5 Tf And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto
David. And all met/ of Israel were a thousand thousand and an
hundred thousand men that drew sword : and Judah was four hundred
threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.
6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the
king's word was abominable to Joab.
7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote
Israel.
8 And David said unto God, I have sinned greativ, because I have
done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy
servant; for I have done very foolishlv.
9 ^ And the Lord spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,
10 Go and tell David, saying. Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee
three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him. Thus saith the
Lord, Choose thee
12 Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed
before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh
thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence^
in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the
coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall
bring again to him that sent me.
13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall
now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but
let me not fall into the hand of man.
14 ^So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of
Israel seventy thousand men.
15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he
was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented hmi of the evil»
FIRST CHRONICLES XXI — THE ANGEL OF PESTILENCE 743
and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine
hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshingfloor of
Oman the Jebusite.^
16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord
stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in
his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders
of Israel^ who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
17 And David said unto God, Is it not 1 that commanded the
people to be numbered ? even I it is that have sinned and done evil
indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand,.
I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father's house;
but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
18 ^ Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David,
that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the
threshingfloor of Oman the Jebusite.
19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in
the name of the Lord.
20 And Oman turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons
with him hid themselves. Now Oman was threshing wheat.
21 And as David came to Oman, Oman looked and saw David, and
went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his
face to the ground.
22 Then David said to Oman, Grant me the place of this threshing-
floor, that I mav build an altar therein unto the Lord: thou shalt
grant it me for the full price : that the plague may be stayed from the
people.
23 And Oman said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord
the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen
also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and
the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.
24 And king David said to Oman, Nay; but I will verily buy it
for the full price : for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord,
nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
25 So David gave to Oman for the place six hundred shekels of
gold by weight.
26 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered
burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and
he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.
27 And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword
again into the sheath thereof.
28 ^ At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered
him in the threshingfloor of Oman the Jebusite, then he sacrificed
there.
29 For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the
iTbe name Oman is given as Aiaunab in II. Sam., 24, 16.
744 FIRST CHRONICLES XXII — DAVID INSTRUCTS SOLOMON
wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in
the high place at Gibeon.
30 But David could not go before it to inquire of Grod: for he was
afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
Chapter 22
1 David, foreknowing the place of the temple, prepareth abundance for the buHding ofU. % He iminutefk Sdomon
in God's promieee, and hie duty in buUding the temple. 17 He chargeth the princes to assist his son.
HEN David said. This is the house of the Lord God, and
this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.
2 And David commanded to gather together the strangers
that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought
stones to build the house of God.
3 And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors
of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without
weight;
4 Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of
Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.
5 And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the
house that t^ to be builded for the Lord miLst be exceeding magnifical,
of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will merefare now
make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his
death.
6 ^ Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build
an house for the Lord God of Israel.
7 And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my
mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God:
8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying. Thou hast shed
blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build
an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon
the earth in my sight.
9 Behold, a son shall be bom to thee, who shall be a man of rest;
and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his
name shall oe Solomon,* and I will give peace and quietness unto
Israel in his days.
10 He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son,
and I wUl be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kii^om
over Israel for ever,
11 Now, my son, the Lord be with thee; and prosper thou, and
build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath said of thee.
12 Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and give
thee charge concerning Israel, that thou may est keep the law of the
Lord thy God.
13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes
iSoloEDon means "iteaoeful.
•»
I
s *
•' 1
Babdi Sletetore)!
BT J. GOEREE* ▲ DTTTCH ARTIBT OF THE BEVENTEENTH
CENTUBT.
**And Judah came 1o OUgal^ to go to meet the hing^ to
eondvet ike king over Jordan** — II. Sam,^ 19, 16.
WHEN David had made peace with his offended
soldiers, he waited to see what the people of
Israel would do next Almost evecyone wanted
him to oome back and be king over them once more; but
those who had cause to dread his vengeance held bade,
espedallj the elders of Judah, his own tribe, which had
been foremost in the support of Absalom. The leader
among these Judahites was Amasa, David's nephew,
who had been made bj Absalom commander of all his
soldiers. So David sent word to Amasa promising to let
him retain his high post and be captain of all the king's
armies in place of Joab. Perhaps this was done as much
in resentment against Joab as in favor of Amasa.
It had its effect. Amasa and all Judah understood they
were forgiven. There was a general jubilation. Every-
body united in urging the king to return. The faithful
men of the east escorted him to Jordan; and there all the
chiefs of Israel met him to be his escort to Jerusalem.
Even Shimei, who had stoned him, came now to entreat
forgiveness; and, when the soldiers would have slain him,
David stayed them and pardoned him, that there might be
no blot upon the mercy of the day.
iv-86
FIRST CHRONICLES XXII — THE TEMPLE MATERIALS 745
and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel :
be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
14 Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of
the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand
thousand talents of silver;^ and of brass and iron without weight;
for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and
thou mayest add thereto.
15 Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers
and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for
every manner of work.
16 Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no
number. Arise therefore^ and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.
17 ^ David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solo-
mon his son, sayingy
18 Is not the Lord your God with you ? and hath he not given ^ou
rest on every side ? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into
mine hand; and the land is suodued before the Lord, and before
bis people.
19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God;
^arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into
the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.
Chapter 23
1 David in hU did age maketh Solomon king. 2 The number and distribution of the Levites. 7 The familiea of
ihe Oershonites. 12 l%e aone of Kohath, 21 The eone of Merari, 24 The office of the Levitee.
O when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his
son king over Israel.
2 ^ And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with
the priests and the Levites.
3 Now the licvites were numbered from the age of thirty years
and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was
thirty and ei^ht thousand.
4 Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the
work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were oflScers and
judges:
5 Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised
the Lord with the instruments which I made, said Davids to praise
therewith.
6 And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi,
namely^ Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 1 Of the Gershonites were, Laadan, and Shimei.
8 The sons of Laadan; the chief wa^ Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joe]»
three.
iThis Bum would represent between four and five billion dollars.
746 FIRST CHRONICLES XXIII — THE SONS OF KOHATH
9 The sons of Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three.
These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.
10 And the sons of Shimei were, Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and
Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.
11 And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush
and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning,
according to their father s house.
12 ^ The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.
13 The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was sepa-
rated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons
for ever, to burn incense before the Lord, to mimster unto him, and
to bless in his name for ever.
14 Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named
of the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses ivere, Gershom, and Eliezer.
16 Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief.
17 And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer
had none other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.
18 Of the sons of Izhar; Shelomith the chief.
19 Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second,
Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 Of the sons of Uzziel; jVIicah the first, and Jesiah the second.
21 ^ The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. The sons of Mahli;
Eleazar, and Kish.
22 And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters: and their
brethren the sons of Kish took them.
23 The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.
24 ^ These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers;
even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of
names by their polls, that did the work for the service of the house
of the Lord, from the age of twenty years and upward.
25 For David said. The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto
his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever:
26 Aiid also unto the Levites: they shall no more carry the taber-
nacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof.
27 For by the last words of David ^ the Levites were numbered
from twenty years old and above:
28 Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the
service of the house of the Lord, in the courts, and in the chambers^
and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service
of the house of God;
29 Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat oflFering,
and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baJced in the pan,
and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and size;
>Thi8 phnae might also be x«ndered, "by the last acts" or "by the last words" of David.
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laid. We have ru) jMrt in David." —
YET even this day of a beloved monarch'^ refltoration
could not paas wholly in peatx among the tumultu-
ous Israelites. The jealousy which had frequently
before in David's reign shown itself between Judah and
the other tribes, now broke forth again. The other tribea
accused Judah of taking coniplcle possession of the king
and crowding them aside. A Benjamite named Sheba,
a kinsman of Saul, took the lead in the dispute. Sud-
denly he raised the crv- "To your tents, O Israel": and
many of the Israelites outside of Judah responded by
abandoning the procession.
This fresh sedition had lo be dealt with promptly.
Sheba fled with his followers into northern Israel and there
gathered adherents. So David bade his new general,
Amasa, collect an army. He moved so slowly, that David
despatched another force against Sheba. Joab loyally
accompanied these troops. On the way they met Amasa
returning with his levies. The opportunity was one after
joab's own heart. Going up to his supplanter in simulated
friendship he suddenly stabbed Ama.sa dead; e^■pn as be-
fore he had slain Abner. Saul's great general. Then, call-
ing the soldiers to follow. Joab hastened after Sheba, easily
(rushed his rebellion, and returned lo Jeru.<ulem in tri-
umph. Clearly no other man was likely lo slay general
while Joab lived. Almost perforce King David
allowed him to reassume his rank.
FIRST CHRONICLES XXIV — THE SONS OF AARON 747
30 And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and
likewise at even;
31 And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the sabbaths, in
the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the
order commanded unto them, continually before the Lord:
32 And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the
congregation, and the charge of the holy ptoce, and the charge of the
sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the Lord.
Chapter 24
1 77k« divigioM of the tons of Aaron by lot into four and twenty orders. 20 The KohathUee, 26 and the MerarUeM
divided by loL
lOW these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons
of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
2 But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had
no children : therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest's oflSce.
3 And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar,
and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in
their service.*
4 And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar
than of the sons of Ithamar; and thus were they divided. Among
the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen chief men of the house of their
fathers, and eight among the sons of Ithamar according to the house
of their fathers.
5 Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for the
governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the hcuse of God, were
of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.
6 And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, one of the Levites,
wrote them before the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest,
and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and before the chief of the fathers
of the priests and Levites: one principal household being taken for
Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.
7 Now the first lot came forth to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,
8 The third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,
9 The fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin,
10 The seventh to Hakkoz, the eiffhth to Abijah,
11 The ninth to Jeshuah, the tenth to Shecaniah,
12 The eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim,
13 The thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,
14 The fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer,
15 The seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Aphses,
16 The nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezekel,
17 The one and twentieth to Jachin, the two and twentieth to
Gamut,
>The Reviaed Venion alten this verse to mean that Davfd, with Zadok and Ahlmdech, divided the
priestly offices.
748 FIRST CHRONICLES XXIV — THE LEYITES
18 The three and twentieth to Delaiah, the four and twentieth to
Maaziah.
19 These were the orderings of them in their service to come into
the house of the Lord, according to their manner, under Aaron their
father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.
20 T[ And the rest of the sons of Levi were these: Of the sons of
Amram; Shubael: of the sons of Shubael; Jehdeiah.
21 Concerning Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, the first was
Isshiah.
22 Of the Izharites; Shelomoth: of the sons of Shelomoth; Jahath.
23 And the sons o/* Hebron; Jeriah the firsty Amariah the second,
Jahaziel the third, «fekameam the fourth.
24 Of the sons of Uzziel; IVIichah: of the sons of Michah; Shamir.
25 The brother of IVIichah was Isshiah: of the sons of Isshiah;
Zechariah.
26 The sons of Merari were M ahli and Mushi : the sons of Jaaziah;
Beno.
27 T[ The sons of Merari by Jaaziah; Beno, and Shoham, and
Zaccur, and Ibri.
28 Of Mahli came Eleazar, who had no sons.
29 Concerning Kish: the son of Kish was Jerahmeel.
30 The sons also of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth. These
were the sons of the Levites after the house of their fathers.
31 These likewise cast lots over against their brethren the sons of
Aaron in the presence of David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech,
and the chief of the fathers of the priests and the Levites, even the
principal fathers over against their younger brethren.
Cfiopter 25
1 The nwnber and offices of the etngere, 8 Their divieion by iol into four and twenty orders.
REOVER David and the captains of the host separated to
the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Je-
duthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and
with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their
service was:
2 Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and
Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophe-
sied according to the order of the king.
3 Of Jeduthun: the sons of Judutnun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and
Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their
father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to
praise the Lord.
4 Of Heman: the sons of Heman; Bulddah, Mattaniah, Uzziel,
Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and
Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth.
Ctie :f amine
mOM THE
BT GUBTAYE DOSi,
'* Then there wtu a famine in the days rf David three
yearst year (rfter year.*' — II. <Sam., f i, J.
AT JUST what period of David's reign oocurred
the great "famine in Israel" is not dear. Most
commentators incline to place it liefore Absalom's
usurpation; and perhaps indeed the famine was one of
the causes of dissatisfaction against David which made
the usurpation possible. Moreover the outcome of the
famine would explain the rearoused bitterness against
David among such men as Shimei and Sheba, Benja-
mites and hence kinsmen of the race of Saul. In the Bible
narrative, however, the tale of the famine comes after
that of Absalom.
Famine, caused by lack of rain and consequent scarcity
of crops, had always been common in Palestine; but this
seems to have been a period of peculiar severity, almost
comparable to the seven "thin years" of Joseph's time.
There were three successive years of burning skies and
failing harvests. Then King David "inquired of the
Lord." That is, he decided that the famine was specially
sent because of some crime in Israel, and that some special
atonement must be made. He was told that the punish*
ment was because of Saul, who had attacked the Gibeon-
ibes, descendants of the ancient inhabitants of Gibeon,
with whom Israel had sworn a perpetual peace way bade
in Joshua's days. The unfortunate Gibeonites had been
almost exterminated by Saul. Now this breaking of the
covenant must be atoned.
iv-88
FIRST CHRONICLES XXV — THE SINGERS OF THE TEMPLE 749
5 All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the words
of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons
and three daughters.
6 All these were under the hands of their father for song in the
house of the Lord, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service
of the house of God, according to tne king's order to Asaph, Jeduthun,
and Heman.
7 So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed
in the songs of the Ix)rd, even all that were cunning, was two hundred
fourscore and eight.
8 ^ And they cast lots, ward against wardy as well the small as
the great, the teacher as the scholar.
9 Now the first lot came forth for Asaph to Joseph: the second
to Gedaliah, who with his brethren and sons were twelve:
10 The third to Zaccur, he^ his sons, and his brethren, ivere twelve:
11 The fourth to Izri, he^ his sons, and his brethren, were twelve:
12 The fifth to Nethaniah, he, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
13 The sixth to Bukkiah, fee, his sons, and his brethren, were twelve:
14 The seventh to Jesharelah, he^ his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
15 The eighth to Jeshaiah, /ie, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
16 The ninth to Mattaniah, he^ his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
17 The tenth to Shimei, fee, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
18 The eleventh to Azareel, fee, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
19 The twelfth to Hashabiah, fee, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
20 The thirteenth to Shubael, fee, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
21 The fourteenth to Mattithiah, fee, his sons, and his brethren,
were twelve:
22 The fifteenth to Jeremoth, fee, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
23 The sixteenth to Hananiah, fee, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
24 The seventeenth to Joshbekashah, fee, his sons, and his brethren,
were twelve:
25 The eighteenth to Hanani, fee, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
26 The nineteenth to M allothi, fee, his sons, and his brethren, were
twelve :
750 FIRST CHRONICLES XXVI — THE PORTERS OP THE TEMPLE
27 The twentieth to Eliathah, he, his sons, and his brethren, v?ere
twelve :
28 The one and twentieth to Hothir, he, his sons, and his brethren,
were twelve:
29 The two and twentieth to Giddalti, hCy his sons, and his brethren,
were twelve:
30 The three and twentieth to Mahazioth, he, his sons, and his
brethren, were twelve:
31 The four and twentieth to Romamti-ezer, he^ his sons, and his
brethren, were twelve.
Cfiapter 26
1 The diviHona of the porien. 13 The gaiea aasiffned by loL 20 The Levitee that had cKarge of Ute tr&UMree.
■29 Officer 9 and judgee.
^NCERNING the divisions of the porters*: Of the Korhites
was Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.
2 And the sons of Meshelemiah were^ Zechaiiah the first-
>orn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,
3 Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Elioenai the seventh.
4 Moreover the sons of Obed-edom were^ Shemaiah the firstborn,
Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and
Nethaneel the fifth,
5 Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peulthai the eighth: for
God blessed him.
6 Also unto Shemaiah his son were sons born, that ruled throughout
the house of their father: for the^ were miffhty men of valour.
7 The sons of Shemaiah: Othm, and Repnael, and Obed, Elzabad,
"whose brethren were strong men, Elihu, and Semachiah.
8 All these of the sons of Obed-edom: they and their sons and
their brethren, able men for strength for the service, were threescore
and two of Obed-edom.
9 And Meshelemiah had sons and brethren, strong men, eighteen.
10 Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons; Simri the chief,
(for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the
chief;)
11 Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth:
all the sons and brethren of Hosah were thirteen.
12 Among these were the divisions of the porters, even among the
chief men, having wards one against another, to minister in the house
of the Lord.
13 ^ And they cast lots, as well the small as the great, according
to the house of their fathers, for every gate.
14 And the lot eastward fell to Shelemiah. Then for Zechariah his
^on, a wise counsellor, they cast lots; and his lot came out northward.
iThese porten were the warden or KuardUns of the temple.
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BT OBOBOEB BECKEB» A CONTEIfFORABT OEBMAN
ABTI8T.
*
**And Rizpah suffered neither the
cfihe a4r to rest on them by day^ nor the heaete cf thefdd
by mghtr-'ll. Sam,, 21, 10,
SO THE king appealed to the Gibeonites. What
atonement would satisfy them? Thej demanded
that seven of the direct descendants of Saul must be
given up to them for death. To this bitter revenge
David consented. There was one surviving son of Jona-
than, a lame and feeble man, whom David aiways caie-
fully protected. This son was now spared for his father's
sake. But seven other victims were found, five grandsons
of Saul, bom probably to his eldest daughter Merab, and
two sons of Saul, bom to his wife "Rizpah, the daughter
of Aiah,*' a woman of foreign race.
"And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeon-
ites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord.*'
That is, they crucified them, according to the method of
execution in those days, and left the bodies exposed to
become the prey of the weadier and the wild beasts. But
the aged Rizpah, if she could not save her sons and younger
kinsmen from death, was determined at least to preserve
their bodies. She spread a piece of sadcdoth on the
ground, and sat there by her dead through day and ni^t
all the burning months of a long tropic summer, driving
off the birds and beasts. So at length the king was moved
to shame and pity; and he had the bodies taken down and
given honorable burial.
iv-89
FIRST CHRONICLES XXVI — THE TREASURE GUARDS 751
15 To Obed-edom southward; and to his sons the house of Asup-
pim.^
16 To Shuppim and Hosah the lot came forth westward, with the
gate Shallechetn, by the causeway of the going up, ward against ward.
17 Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward
four a day, and toward Asuppim two and two.
18 At rarbar westward, lour at the causeway, and two at Parbar.
19 These are the divisions of the porters among the sons of Kore,
and among the sons of Merari.
20 % And of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of the house
of God, and over the treasures of the dedicated things.
21 As concerning the sons of Laadan; the sons of the Gershonite
Laadan, chief fathers, even of Laadan the Gershonite, were
Jehieli.
22 The sons of Jehieli; Zetham, and Joel his brother, which were
over the treasures of the house of the Lord.
23 Of the Amramites, and the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the
Uzzielites:
24 And Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler
of the treasures.
25 And his brethren by Eliezer; Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah
his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomith
his son.
26 Which Shelomith and his brethren were over all the treasures
of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the chief fathers,
the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the
host, had dedicated.
27 Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain
the house of the Lord.
28 And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and
Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, had dedicated;
and whosoever had dedicated any thing, it wa^ under the hand of
Shelomith, and of his brethren.
29 % Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward
business over Israel, for officers and judges.
SO And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of
valour, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of
Israel on this side Jordan westward in all the business of me Lord,
and in the service of the king.
31 Among the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even among the
Hebronites, according to the generations of his fathers. In the fortieth
year of the reign of David they were soi^ht for, and there were found
among them mighty men of valour at Jazer of Gilead.
32 And his bretnren, men of valour, were two thousand and seven
1 "House of Asuppim" is translated "storehouse** In the Revised Venlon.
752 FIRST CHRONICLES XXVII — THE CAPTAINS FOR THE MONTHS
hundred chief fathers, whom king David made rulers over the Reuben-
ites, the Gadiles, and the half tribe of Manasseh, for every matter
pertaining to God, and affairs of the king.
Ciiapter 27
1 7%« hoelve capUtins for every several month. 16 T*he princes of the twelve trSbee. 23 The numbering of O*
pwpU U hindered. 25 David's several officers.
|OW the children of Israel after their number, to wily the chief
fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their
oflScers that served the king in any matter of the courses,
which came in and went out montn by month throughout all the
months of the year, of every course were twenty and four thousand.
2 Over the first course for the first month was Jashobeam the son
of Zabdiel: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
3 Of the children of Perez w<i8 the chief of all the captains of the
host for the first month.
4 And over the course of the second month was Dodai an Ahohite,.
and of his course wa>s Mikloth also the ruler: in his course likewise
were twenty and four thousand.
5 The third captain of the host for the third month was Benaiah
the son of Jehoiaaa, a chief priest: and in his course were twenty and
four thousand.
6 This is that Benaiah, wTio was mighty among the thirty, and above
the thirty: and in his course was Ammizabad his son.
7 The fourth captain for the fourth month was Asahel the brother
of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him: and in his course were
twenty and four thousand.
8 The fifth captain for the fifth month was Shamhuth the Izrahite:
and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
9 The sixth captain for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh
the Tekoite : and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
10 The seventh captain for the seventh month was Helez the Pelon-
ite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his course were twenty and
four thousand.
11 The eighth captain for the eighth month was Sibbecai the
Hushathite, of the Zarhites: and in his course were twenty and four
thousand.
12 The ninth captain for the ninth month was Abiezer the Anetoth-
ite, of the Benjamites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand*
13 The tenth captain for the tenth month was Maharai the
Netophathite, of the Zarhites: and in his course were twenty and
four thousand.
14 The eleventh captain for the eleventh month was Benaiah the
Pirathonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his course were twenty
and four thousand.
I }
BT PIERRE mONARD, A NOTED nffiSTCH MAETEEy
DIED 1605.
*
So the Lord sent peMenee upon Itrad: and then/M
oflsrad seventy thousand men,** — I. Chron.t 2U H*
YET another visitation of aonow came upon Israel
in the declining days of David. The king com-
manded the taking of a grand general census of his
people. This was r^arded by them as a sin. Joab in
particular protested vehemently against it. Nevertheless
David insistifd, and the count was made, totaling in Judah
alone almost half a million "men that drew sword*" and
in the other tribes over a million.
Then there came to David his ancient comrade the
prophet Gad, and told him that the Lord was de^lj
displeased. "Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee either
three years* famine; or three months to be destroyed before
thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh
thee; or else three days the sword oi the Lord, even the
pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying
throughout all the coasts of Israel."
David cried out for mercy and pardon. Yet since the
choice was forced upon him, he chose wisely, "Let me fall
now into the hands of the Lord; for very great are his
mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.*' So
during three days a terrible pestilence sw^t over Israel.
The death angel was sent even into the holy city of Jeru-
salem, as though to make that the centre of the devastation.
^
.;\N
aBifc^
iv-90
FIRST CHRONICLES XXVII — THE PRINCES OF THE TRIBES 75S
15 The twelfth captain for the twelfth month was Heldai the
Netophathite, of Othniel: and in his course were twenty and four
thousand.
16 ^ Furthermore over the tribes of Israel : the ruler of the Reuben-
ites was Eliezer the son of Zichri: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the
son of Maaehah.
17 Of the Levites, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel: of the Aaronites»
Zadok:
18 Of Judah, Elihu, one of the brethren of David: of Issachar>
Omri, the son of Michael;
19 Of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of Naphtali, Jeri-
moth the son of Azriel:
20 Of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah : of the
half tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah:
21 Of the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechar-
iah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner:
22 Of Dan, Azareel the son of Jeroham. These were the princes
of the tribes of Israel.
23 ^ But David took not the number of them from twenty years
old and under: because the Lord had said he would increase Israel
like to the stars of the heavens.
24 Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not,
because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number
put in the account of the chromcles of king David.
25 % And over the king*s treasures wa^ Azmaveth the son of Adiel :
and over the storehouses in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages,
and in the castles, was Jehonathan the son of Uzziah:
26 And over them that did the work of the field for tillage of the
ground wa^ Ezri the son of Chelub:
27 And over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite: over the
increase of the vineyards for the wine cellars wa^ Zabdi the Shiphmite :
28 And over the olive trees and the sycamore trees that were in
the low plains wa^ Baal-hanan the Gederite: and over the cellars of
oil wa^ Joash:
29 And over the herds that fed in Sharon wa^ Shitrai the Sharonite :
and over the herds that were in the valleys wa^ Shaphat the son of
Adlai:
30 Over the camels also wa^ Obil the Ishmaelite: and over the
asses wa^ Jehdeiah the Meronothite :
31 And over the flocks wa^ Jaziz the Hagerite. All these were
the rulers of the substance which was king David's.
32 Also Jonathan David's uncle was a counsellor, a wise man»
and a scribe : and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni wa^ with the king's sons :
33 And Ahithophel wa^ the king's counsellor: and Hushai the
Archite was the king's companion:
754 FIRST CHRONICLES XXVIII — DAVID's LAST ASSEBfBLT
34 And after Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and
Abiathar: and the general of the king's army was Joab.
Chapter 28
1 David in a 9olemn tusembly having dedared Gcd'» favour to him, and apnmim to hiM won Solomon, ezlkarMft
them to fear Ood. 9, 20 He eneourageth Solomon to fmild the temple. II He giveth him paUeme for the form, and
gold and eUver for the maUriaU,
ND David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of
the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered
to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands,
end captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the sub-
stance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers,
and with the mighty men, and witn all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.
2 Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said. Hear me,
my brethren, and my people: As jot me, I had in mine heart to build
an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the I-iORD, and for the
footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:
3 But God said unto me. Thou shalt not build an house for my
name, because thou hxist been a man of war, and hast shed blood.
4 Howbeit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house
of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah
to he the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father;
and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over
all Israel:
5 And of all my sons, (for the Lord hath given me many sons,)
he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the langdom
of the Lord over Israel.
6 And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house
and my courts: for I have chosen him to he my son, and I will be
his father.
7 Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant
to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day.
8 Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of the
Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the
commandments of the Lord your God : that ye may possess this good
land, and leave U for an inheritance for your children after you for
ever.
9 ^ And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the G<xl of thy father,
and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the
Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations
of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if
thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
10 Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an
house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.
11 ^ Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch,
and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the
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DIED 1671.
.*
**And David Ufied up hia eyes and saw the angd qf the
Lord stand between the earth and the heaven^ having a
drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem.
Then David and the elders cf Israel^ who were clothed in
sackdoth^fdl upon their faces. And David said unto God,
Is it not I thai commanded the people to be numheredf** —
/. Chron.f 21 ^ 16,
WHEN David and tfaooe dden oi land who were
with him behdd as in a vision the angd of the
pestilence hovering over Jerusalem, fhey ie>
doubled their piayera to heaven for mercy. David was
specially agonized; he cried out to God that he, he alone,
was guilty; he had insisted on the numbering in despite
of everyone. On him, therefore, he besought that all
the punishment should fall. Satisfied that the lesson of
obedience had been deeply taught, God "r^iented him
of the evil," and commanded the angel to cease, saying,
"It is enough: stay now thy hand."
Then through the prophet Gad, the Lord bade David
build an altar and offer sacrifice on a certain spot So the
king hastened and purdiased the required land* and
erected the altar. As the flame of the offerings ascended,
"the plague was stayed from Israel." The unhappy
people buried their dead, and their lives returned to the
general tenor of peaoef ulness vdiich th^ enjoyed throu|^
most of David's rdgn.
^
iv-91
FIRST CHRONICLES XXVIII — SOLOMON ENCOURAGED 755
tipper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the
place of the mercy seat.
12 And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts
of the house oi the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of
the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedi-
cated things:
13 Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all
the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the
vessels of service in the house of the Lord.
14 He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments
of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by
weight, for all instruments of every kind of service:
15 Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps
of gold, by weight for every candlestick, ana for the lamps thereof:
and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick,
and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candle-
stick.
16 And by weight he gave gold for the tables of shewbread, for
every table; and Ukevnse silver for the tables of silver:
17 Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups:
and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason;
and Ukevnse silver by weight for every bason of silver:
18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold
for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their
wings ^ and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
19 All thisy said Davidy the liORD made me understand in writing
by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
20 And David said to Solomon his son. Be strong and of good
•courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God,
even my God, vrill be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee,
until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of
the Ix)RD.
21 And, behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites, even
ihey shall be rvith thee for all the service of the house of God: and
there shall be with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing
skilful man, for any manner of service: also the princes and all the
people will be wholly at thy commandment.
Cfiapter 29
1 David, by his example and entreaty, 6 caueelh the princes and people to offer uriUinffiy. 10 DaMs ihanksffivino
and prayer, 20 The people, having blessed Ood, and sacrificed, make Solomon king. 26 Davitrs reign and death,
jURTHERMORE David the king said unto all the congre-
gation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is
yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace
is not for man, but for the Lord God.
756 FIRST CHRONICLES XXIX — GIFTS FOB THE TEMPLE
2 Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my
God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for tilings
of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for ^ings of iron^
and wood for things of wood; onyx-stones, and stones to be set,
glistening stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious
stones, and marble stones in abundance.
3 Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my
God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I
have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have
prepared for the holy house,
4 Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and
seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the
houses withal:^
5 The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver,
and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers.
And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?
6 ^ Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel,
and the captains of thousands and of nundreds, with the rulers of
the king's work, offered willingly,
7 And gave for the service of the house of G<xl of gold five thousand
talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents,
and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand
talents of iron.
8 And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to
the treasure of the house of the Lord, by the hand of Jehiel the
Gershonite.
9 Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because
with perfect heart they offered wilUngly to the Lord : and David the
king also rejoiced with weat jov.
10 ^ Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation:
and David said. Blessed be thou. Lord God of Israel our mther, for
ever and ever.
1 1 Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory,
and the victory, and the majesty : for all thai is in the heaven and in
the earth is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted
as head above all.
12 Both riches and honour corns of thee, and thou reimest over
all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is
to make great, and to give strength unto all.
1 3 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious
name.
14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able
to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and
of thine own have we given thee.
iThis gold and sUver would represent a money value over a hundred million dollars.
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\ LEADING ENGUSH
"And David attemblrd alt the prinrM of IrraH . . .
and laid. Hear me, my brrthrm, and my peopte: As for
vif, I had in mine heart U> hiUd a hou^e of rest for the
ark oftlte roitnanl of the Lord."— I. Ckron., 98, 1.
IN DAVID'S declining venrs. after the great plague,
his thoughts turned ever more nnd more to God. The
temple which he himself had been forbidden to build
waa ever in his mind. So be sent to all lands for materials,
gold and silver, sL-ong iron and sturdy woods, marble and
ivory and precious pe^ns. bo also he selected a successor
from among his sur\-iving sons; or rather, God had long
before p(»nted out to him that he waa to l>e followed by
the child born to his favorite Bathsheba in the period of
reconcilement witli God which had followed on the death
of her first bom. This son and successor was the great
Solomon, then a mere youth, probably under twenty. To
Solomon. King David gave careful and minute instruc-
tions aa to this great temple, which he wished to hare
built immediately after his own death.
David also summoned a solemn assembly of all the
leaders of Israel and announced to them his plan for thia
"house of God." He told his people of God's promise
to continue their kingdom forever, if onl^^ey would obey
the Lord. Then, even as Moses and Joshua had done,
this third great leader, repealed before his people the chief
commandments of God, and blessed his follow-
ers and sent them to their homes.
The end was near.
?»w'yf->r-itf-W'-^!pr-^-»t-^'i<T<-^"yf'yr-w-W't<-g<'s<-yTf»f-w^»t
FIRST CHRONICLES XXIX — DAVId's DEATH 757
15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our
fathers : our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.
16 O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build
thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all
thine own.
17 1 know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure
in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have
willingly offered all these things: ana now have I seen with joy thy
people, which are present here, to offer willinglv unto thee.
18 O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers,
keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of
thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:
19 And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy
commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these
things^ and to build the palace, /or the which I have made provision.
20 % And David said to all the congregation. Now bless the Lord
your God. And all the congregation olessed the Lord God of their
fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord, and
the king.
21 And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the Lord, and offered burnt
offerings unto the Lord, on the morrow after that day, even a thousand
bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink
offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel:
22 And did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great
gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second
time, and anointed him unto the Lord to be the chief governor, and
Zadok to 6e priest.
23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead
of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.
24 And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons like-
wise of king David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king.
25 And tne Lord magnified Solomon exceedinglv in the sight of
s\\ Israel, and bestowed upon him siich royal majesty as had not
been on any king before him in Israel.
26 ^ Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.
27 And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven
years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he
in Jerusalem.
28 And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour:
and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.
29 Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they
are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan
the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
30 With all his reign and his might, and the times that went over
him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.
ItttroHncttan to t^e i^conH iBooii of CbrotitcleK
The Second Book of Chronicles has the same origin as the first, the division between the
two being of late date. The first book carries us from the creation to the reign of Solomon,
all history being presented in its relation to the great rdigious event, the building of God's
temple at Jerusalem. Second .Chronicles then begins with the actual erection of the temple,
and describes the ceremonials attending its completion and the installation of the ark within
the Holy of Holies.
Chapter ten takes up a solemn priestly lament over Judah's downfall. The history
repeats much of that in First and Second Kings; but the northern kingdom of Israel b almost
entirely ignored, as it was under a schismatic government which repudiated the temple wor-
ship. Moreover, scarcely one of the events in Judah is narrated without throwing on it
some new light. The chronicler judges the history by the priestly conditions of his own day.
The dose of Second Chronicles goes a step beyond that of Second Kings, in telling not
only of Judah's captivity but of the sounding of the call for her restoration. The opening
words are given of the decree of King Cyrus, by which the Jews were permitted to return
and rebuild Jerusalem. Thus arose the priestly state and government under which Chron-
icles was written. Judah was no longer an independent kingdom of political power, hut a
subject province notable only for its religious importance, its marvelous religious develop-
ment It had become a religious community.
T5S
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BT BEBNABDO 8TBOKZI. AN ITAULAN IfAfiTEB. DIED 1644.
4*
**And Bath^hAa bowed^ and did obeimMce unto the king.
And the king eaid. What wouldeet Aau ?**—!. Kings, U 10.
IN THOSE last days of David's decrepitude, there Aioie
another rebdlion against his will. He had publadjr
proclaimed Solomon as his suooeasor. But there
waa an older son, Adonijah, apparently the ddest aunriTiiig
after Absalom's death. Adonijah waa "a ray goodlj
' like Absalom, and like him he fonned a party of
own, set up "chariots and horsemen and fifty men to
run before him,** and schemed to be king after David.
Bdng thus in a position of much more influence than the
youthful Solomon, Adonijah drew into his conspiracj
some of David's staunchest adherents, Joab the great
general, and Abiathar, the high-priest in Jerusalem.
The schemer seems to have become king in all but name.
Of this hfAd perverrion of his purposes David knew
nothing. In his extreme age he seems to have adopted
something of the tyrannical ways of other Eastern poten-
tates, so that it was difficult to address him or even to gain
entrance to him without his command. The friends of
young Solomoh resolved that something must be done.
Ws mother Bathsheba and the aged prophet Nathan
took counsel together, and the devoted mother ventured
in to David and told him of Abiathar. The king was roused
to a flash of his ancient energy and wit He swore to Bath-
sheba *'as the Lord liveth*' that her son should indeed
succeed him, that he would frustrate Adoetjah, de^te
all the able leaders who had joined the
young man in rebellion.
iv-93
THE SECOND BOOK OF THE
Cfjroniclesi
Thtieltnn aff^ttg of Salamon at Oibton.
7 Solomon't diole» of uMmn U UOmI bu Ood, IS Bclomen'i
ND Solomon the son of David was strengthened
in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with
liim, and magnified him exceedingly.
i Then Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the
captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to
the judges, and to every governor in all Israel,
the chief of the fathers.
3 So Solomon, and all the congregation with
him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tab-
ernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the
Lord had made in the wilderness.
4 But the ark of God had David brought up from Kiriath-jearim
to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a
tent for it at Jerusalem.
5 Moreover the brasen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son
of Hur, had made, be put before the tabernacle of the Lord: and
Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.
6 And Solomon went up thither to the brasen altar before the Lord,
which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thou-
sand burnt offerings upon it.
7 ^ In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto
him, Ask what I shall give thee.
8 And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy
unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead.
760 SECOND CHRONICLES I — ^SOLOMON's WISDOM
9 Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be
established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust
of the earth in multitude.
10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and
come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, th4U
is so great ?
1 1 And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and
thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine
enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and
knowledge for thyself, thou mayest judge my people, over whom
I have made thee king:
12 Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give
thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have
had that Iiave been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have
the like.
13 ^ Then Solomon came from his journey to the high place that
was at Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tabernacle oi the con-
gregation, and reigned over Israel.
14 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a
thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen,
which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. ^
15 And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as ^plenteous
as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in
the vale for abundance.
16 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen-yam:
the king's merchants received the linen-yarn at a price.
17 And they fetched up, and brought forth out of E^rpt a chariot
for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an nundred and
fifty : and so brought they out horses for all the kings of the Hittites,
and for the kings of Syria, by their means.
Cfiapter 2
1. 17 Soionum'9 labourers for the buHdina of the temple. 3 His embaaaage to Huram for workmen and provision
4if stuff. 11 Huram sendetii him a kind answer.
ND Solomon determined to build an house for the name of
the Lord, and an house for his kingdom.
2 And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men
to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and
three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.
3 T[ And Solomon sent to Huram' the king of Tyre, saying. As
thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to
build him an house to dwell therein, even so deal vAth me.
4 Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to
dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the
*This and the following venes compare with I. Kings 10. 26 et seq. *This is the Hiimm of I. Kings, 5.
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*
**And Befudah the son cfJehaiada . , • • he dew
two lumUke men cf Moab: he went down aUo and dew a
lion in ike midst of a pit in time of enow J* — //. iSam., 2$^ XO.
DAVID, casting about in his mind for means to foil
Adonijah*s rebellion, knowing that eren Joab
had forsaken him, resolved to trust everything
to the loyalty of one man. This was Benaiah, the captain
of his guard.
At the dose of the second book of Samud, and again
in First Chronicles, we are given a list of the thirty and
more great captains who fought under David, with some
brief note of the chief exploits of each. Of most of these
valiant warriors we find no other mention; but among them
was this Benaiah, who now rose to special prominence.
Hb chief eariier exploit had been the slaying of '*two
lionlike men of Moab.** Tradition says they were the
princes of the nation, leaders of the Moabites in the war
wherein David conquered them. Other deeds also he had
achieved, until he had risen to the trusted post of com-
manding the bodyguard of the king.
To defeat Adonijah and Joab, King David bade Benaiah
assume control of everything. Gathering the troops
about him, Benaiah set Solomon in their midst; the youth
was anointed king, and led in gorgeous procession through
the streets. And David "bowed himself upon the bed"
in surrender of his own sovereignty and apjNroval of
Benaiah's deed. As for the conspirators, they scattered
in dismay.
IV'»4
SECOND CHRONICLES II — ^ALLIANCE WITH TYRE 761
continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening,
on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of
the Lord out God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
5 And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above
all gods.
6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and
heaven of heavens cannot contain. him ? who am I tnen, that I should
build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him ?
7 Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in
silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue,
and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in
Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
8 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Leba-
non: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon;
and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
9 Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I
am about to build shall be wonderful great.
10 And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut
timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thou-
sand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and
twenty thousand baths of oil.
11^ Then Hiu-am the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he
sent to Solomon, Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath
made thee king over them.
12 Huram said moreover. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that
made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise
son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might Duild an
house for the I^ord, and an house for his kingdom.
13 And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understand-
ing, of Huram my father's,^
14 The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was
a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron,
in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in
crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every
device which shall be put to him, with tny cunning men, and with the
cunning men of my lord David thy father.
15 Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine
which my lord hath spoken of, let him send imto his servants:
16 And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt
need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou
shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.
17 ^ And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the
land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had
^This mlFht be translated, **even Huram my father." but the word father (abl) is part of the artificer*!
name Huram-Ahi. See chapter 4. 11 and 4. 16.
762 SECOND CHRONICLES III — THE TEMPLE BUILT
numbered them; and they were found an hundred ana fifty thousand
and three thousand and six hundred.
18 And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers
of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain,
and three thousand and six himdred overseers to set the people
a work.
Chapter 3
1 The place, and Hme at bvOding ihe iempie, 3 The meaeure and cmamenia of (he houm. 11 The dunAfbm.
14 The vaU and piUan.
|HEN Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jeru-
salem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto
David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the
threshingfloor of Oman the Jebusite,
2 And he began to build in the second day of the second month,
in the fourth vear of his reign.
3 \ Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for
the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the
first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twentv cubits.
4 And the porch that was in the front of the house^ the length of it
was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the
height was an hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with
pure gold.
5 And the greater house he ceiled with fir tree, which he overlaid
with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.
6 And ne garnished the house with precious stones for beauty; and
the gold was gold of Parvaim.
7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls
thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on
the walls.
8 And he made the most holy house, the len^h whereof was ac-
cording to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth
thereof twenty cubits : and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting
to six hundred talents.
9 And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he
overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10 And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image-
work, and overlaid them with gold.
11 ^ And the wings of the cnerubims were twenty cubits long: one
wing cfthe one chenwwas five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house:
and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the
other cherub.
12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to
the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits alsOj joining
to the wing of the other cherub.
{■
BT BUBEN8, THE GREAT FLEIOBH MASTER. THE
ORIGINAI. IB IN THE FRANKVOBT MUBEUM.
4*
**Now these be the hut toordt of David . , . , ihe
anointed cf the Ood of Jacobs and the tweet ptalmist of
leradr^ll. Sam., 23, 1.
FORTY years hnd David now ruled over Judah,
and thirty-three years, a third of a century, over
all Israel. He was seventy years of age, and grown
very feeble. All his life he had been singing songs, com-
posing music in honor of the Lord. These songs were
held in highest honor among his peo{Je, and many of them
have been preserved for us in the Book of Psalms. Many
however must have disappeared; for tiiere seems to have
been hardly an act of Ufe, hardly a danger faced or a bless-
ing conferred, either for himself or for Israel, that the
*' sweet singer*' did not commemorate by chanting an ap-
propriate hymn to his adored Creator. Some few of these
are preserved in the actual story of his life; and the most
celebrated of those thus enshrined in the Historical Books
of his race is this deathsong.
Perhaps we should understand the introduction to this
as meaning, not that these were actually his last words,
but only his last public words to man. In the song he
says that God has warned him that *'He that ruleth over
men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." Then looking
into life with spiritual eyesight undiminished, he says that
in this justice and in his desire to be at harmony with God
is all my salvation, and all my desire." Surdy
this man had learned life's lesson.
1^96
SECOND CHRONICLES IV — THE MOLTEN SEA 763
13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty
cubits : and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.
14 ^ And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and
fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
15 Also he made Def ore the house two pillars of thirty and five
-cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was
five cubits.
16 And he made chains, cw in the oracle, and put them on the heads
of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them
on the chains.
17 And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the
right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on
the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.
Chapter 4
1 Th/B attar of bmoM. 2 The moUm sea upon ttoave oxen. 6 T%e ien Unen, oandledicks, and taHea. 0 The
courts, and the inatrumenta of brats. 19 The instruments of gold.
|OREOVER he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the
length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and
ten cubits the height thereof.
2 ^ Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim,
round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of
thirty cubits cud compass it round about.
3 And under it wa>s the similitude of oxen, which did compass it
round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two
TOWS of oxen were cast, when it was cast.
4 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and
three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south,
and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon
them, and all their hinder parts were inward.
5 And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it
'like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received
and held three thousand baths.
6 ^ He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and
five on the left to wash in them: sucn things as they offered for the
burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea worS for the priests
to wash in.
7 And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form,
and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.
8 He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on
the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons
of gold.
9 Tf Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great
•court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with
brass.
764 SECOND CHRONICLES IV — THE TEMPLE INSTRUMENTS
10 And he set the sea on the right side of the east end» over against
the south.
11 And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons.
And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon
for the house of God;
12 To vnty the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters
which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two Avreaths to cover
the two pommels oi the chapiters which were on the top of the
pillars;
13 And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths: two rows
of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the
chapiters which were upon the pillars.
14 He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases;
15 One sea, and twelve oxen under it.
16 The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their
instruments, did Hm*am his father make to king Solomon for the house
of the Lord of bright brass. \
17 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay-ground
between Succoth and Zeredathah.
18 Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for
the weight of the brass could not be found out.
19 \ And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of
God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the shewbread
was set;
20 Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should
burn after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold ;
21 And the flowers, and the lamps, and tne tongs, made he of gold>
and that perfect gold ;
22 And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the cen-
sers, of pure gold : and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof
for the most holy pZoce, and the doors of the house of the temple, were^
of gold.
I
Cliopter 5
XThedBiioaUdtteaMarth, 2 The 9oIann induction cf the ark into (he erode, 11 God beiHOpnt^edgimlk a vitibi^
aign of hie favour,
IHUS all the work that Solomon made for the house of the
Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in aU the things
that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the
gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house
of God.
2 f Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads
of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto
Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the
city of David, which ts Zion.
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Babili't tait Coniulel to ftolotnon
BT JAN TICTOOR, AS EASI.T DOTCH tUVTEB, DIED 187S.
"Now Ae dayt of David d
0 mgk a
and hs eharged Sohnwn kit ton, tatfing, I go tlu way ^
aU the tarik."—!. King*. £, I.
I
of ihrewdest pc^ticsi advice, and aiao (d ti
i spake to him words
aitd moat »
bwle the
a religioiu
young k
obey the Lord, "that thou majest
[wosper in all that thou does!, and wtuthaaoever thoa
tunwst thyself."
Then looking into his aim's fnttne, be counadled him
to alay two men, men by whom David himsdf had been
much injured, but whom he had patiently endured. Theae
were Shimd, who bad bo cursed David in the day <^ hia
flight from Jerusalem, and Joab, the migh^ general, the
grievoua man of blood. David bunta into bittemeas
against him, "Let not bia boar bead go down to the grave
in peace." By amne, thia grim advice to Solomon has been
taken aa indicating a longing for revenge; but most readers
have teen therdn only a wiadom that knew that, while
David had been able to dominate theae two turbulent men,
the young and untried Sol<Hn<Ki oouM not Unless be
executed them they would overthrow him. The counsel
which permeates all that final speech of David's to his son
is that the youth must hold himself accountable tat the
future of all Israel. "Be tbou strong thoefor^
and shew thyself a man."
SECOND CHRONICLES V — GOD*S GLORY IN THE TEMPLE 766
8 Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the
king in the feast which was in the seventh month.
4 And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark*
5 And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congre-
gation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did
the priests and the Levites bring up.
6 Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were
assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which
could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lori>
unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place,
even under the wings of the cherubims :
8 For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the
ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
9 And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the
staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not
seen without. And there it is unto this day.
10 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables*which Moses
put therein at Horeb, wnen the Lord made a covenant with the chil-
dren of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
11 ^ And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the
holy place: (for all the priests thai were present were sanctified, and
did not then wait by course:
12 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of
Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being ar-
rayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood
at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty
priests sounding with trumpets:)
13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one^
to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord;
and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals
and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying. For he is
good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled
with a cloud, even the house of the I/ORd;
14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the
cloud : for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.
Chapter 6
1 SoUmwn, having Ueaaed the people^ hUned Ood. 12 Solomon*8 prayer in the eoneeeraHon of Oke tempie, upon
the braaen ecaffotd.
|HEN said Solomon, the Lord hath said that he would dwell
in the thick darkness.
2 But I have built an house of habitation for thee> and a
place for thy dwelling for ever.
766 SECOND CHRONICLES VI — SOLOMON's BLESSING
3 And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congr^ation
of Israel : and all the congregation of Israel stood.
4 And he said. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with
his hands fulfilled th4it which he spake with his mouth to my father
David, saying,
5 Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of
Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house
in, tnat my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler
over my people Israel.
6 But 1 have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there;
and have chosen David to be over mv people Israel:
7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for
the name of the Lord God of Israel.
8 But the Lord said to David my father. Forasmuch as it was in
thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it
was in thine heart.
9 Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son
which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for
my name.
10 The Lord therefore hath performed his word that he hath
apoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am
set on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built
the house for the name of the Lord God ot Israel.
11 And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the
Jx)RD, that he made with the children of Israel.
12 T[ And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of
all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:
13 For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long,
and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the
midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his
knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands
toward heaven,
14 And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in
the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepeth covenant, and shewest
mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:
15 Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that
which thou hast promised nim; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast
fulfilled it with tnine hand, as it is this day.
16 Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant
David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying. There
shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel ;
yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law,
as thou hast walked before me.
17 Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified,
which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.
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FBOM ▲ RECENT PHOTOGRAPH.
**So David dtpl with ki9faiherMt and wa9 buried in ths
cUy ofDavidr^l. Kings, ^, 10.
THIS brief Biblical statement of Dayid*8 burial
place does not fully establish the location of his
sepulchre; because there is some doubt as to just
where die "city of David" lay. In a general way the
phrase means Jerusalem; but the Jerusalem of to-day
covers several hills, while in David's time the city was
probably confined more nearly to a single mount. The
site of the great monarch's tomb appears to have been wdl
known in Christ's time and is referred to by St Peter;
but Jerusalem has since undergone many tragic vidasi-
tudes and calamities. The current opinion to-day is
that David's city and his tomb lay on what is now the
northwestern spur of die united hiUs. Here die Moslems
have erected a mosque over what they assert is really this
most venerable site.
If they are right, then beneath the pile here pictured
there still ** sleeps," in waiting for a final resurrection, the
greatest king whom Israel ever knew, the ablest monarch
perhaps in all Astatic annals, a poet who ranks as the
noblest lyric singer of ancient days, and a man so tenderiy
human of heart and soul that he has been beloved by men
and women of every age and dime, ever since die days of
Jonathan and Michal, the children of lus enemy Saul,
who also loved him.
iv-97
SECOND CHBONICLES VI — SOLOMON's PRATER 767
18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth ? behold,
heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much
less this house which I have built!
19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his
supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken imto the cry and the prayer
wnich thy servant prayeth before thee:
20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night,
upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy
name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth
toward this place.
21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of
thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place : hear thou
from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest,
forgive.
22 1[ If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon
him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this
house;
23 .Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants,
by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head;
and by justifying the righteous, by ^ving him according to his
righteousness.
24 ^ And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy,
because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess
thy name, and pray and maKe supplication before thee in this house;
25 Then hear thou from the neavens, and forgive the sin of thy
people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest
them and to their fathers.
26 ^ When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they
have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and con-
fess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;
27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants,
And of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way,
wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, wnich thou
hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.
28 ^ If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be
blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege
them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sicK-
ness there be:
29 Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made
of any man, or oi all thy people Israel, when every one shall know
his own sore and his pwn grief, and shall spread forth his hands in
this house:
30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive,
And render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart
thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the cnildren of men:)
768 SECOND CHRONICLES VI — SOLOMON* S PBATEB
31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as th^
live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
32 % Moreover conceming the stranger, which is not of thy people
Israel, but is come from a far countiylor thy great name's sake, and
thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray^
in this nouse;
33 Then hear thou from the heavens, wen from thv dwelling place,and
do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that lul people of
the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel^
and mav know that this house which I have built is called by thy name*
34 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that
thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which
thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and tneir suppli*
cation, and maintain their cause.
36 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which siimeth not,)
and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their
enemies, and they cany them away captives unto a land far ofiF or near;
37 Yet ij they bethink themselves in the land whither they are
carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity,,
saying. We have sinned, we nave done amiss, and have dealt wickedly :
38 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul
in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives,
and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and
toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which
I have built for thy name:
39 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place,
their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and
forgive thy people which nave sinned against thee.
40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let
thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
41 Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou,
and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed
with salvation, and let tny saints rejoice in goodness.
42 O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remem-
ber the mercies of David thy servant.
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BIBLE. English.
Authorized. 1910.
AUTHOR
The Bible and its
TITLE
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8 9
Call Number
BS
185
1910
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